His Kind of Girl

by Punkpoet69

Gabriella is in identity crisis mode. She's nursing a broken heart thanks to the end of another relationship. Sex is definitely not the solution to her problems, but her gorgeous ex-boyfriend, Troy is impossible to resist. He's suddenly in full-on pursuit and when one unexpected kiss leads to the wildest sex of both their lives, she's the kind of girl who can't resist being his.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the High School Musical world, which is trademarked by Disney. I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of High School Musical. The story I tell here about Troy and Gabriella is my own invention, and it is not supported or believed to be part of Disney story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line.

Gabriella

She didn't usually drink like this.

Gabriella Montez looked down at the bottom of her, now empty, red solo cup. Disappointment and annoyance pulled at her mood. The living room was teeming with people. Frat brothers and sorority sisters as far as the eye could see. Everywhere she looked people were dancing, laughing, or shooting the shit.

And poor Taylor Mckessie, her best friend/roommate, was sitting by her side. Unable to enjoy a second of the party she wanted to go to. Despite the fact that her boyfriend Chad Danforth had attempted to lure her away twice now.

Gabriella felt like a jackass.

"This is stupid. Go dance with Chad." Gabriella had to shout over the music to be heard. "You still have a hot boyfriend, you should go enjoy him."

"I'm not leaving your side," Taylor assures her while swamping out Gabriella's empty cup for her own half-filled one. "Sisters before Misters and all that crap."

Gabriella smirks, lifting the cup to her lips. She didn't want to be here. Didn't want to be surrounded by couples or happy people looking for hook-ups. She just wanted to be drunk tonight. Needed to be drunk.

Needed to forget that she just wasted two years of her life with someone who decided it was time to see other people.

"This just isn't going anywhere for me. You're a great girl really, I'm just not feeling it."

Pulling the bed sheets over her bare breast she scrambled up onto her knees. "How are you not feeling it? What does that even mean?" Gabriella's tone sounded panicked. She hated that sound in her voice.

"I don't know, this feels kind of suffocating. You know, like we're forcing it."

"Oh."

"Look, I wanna get married and settle down eventually but not in my 20s." Josh let out a frustrated sigh. "Jesus, I feel like an asshole. You gonna be alright?"

The sounds of her breakup faded into the noise of the room and she lifted the cup to her lips and finished it's contents. Taylor promised her that the night out would be good for her. Just a random party where she could just drink and let loose.

She was wearing a black spaghetti strap top with her hair braided to one side. The top had earned her a few looks, a few raised brows of curiosity. Not that she was interested. Not tonight. Tonight was for getting shit-faced.

She was four watered-down beers into the evening and she still had feelings. She was gonna need something a lot stronger.

As if reading her mind Chad appeared before them. Taking the empty cup from both girls and handing a bottle of beer to Gabriella.

Gabriella smiled in delight. "I knew I liked you," she said with a wink.

"Can I steal her for five minutes?" He pointed at Taylor.

"Please do," Gabriella said, nudging her friend who was about to protest. "Go. Have fun, get your college party girl on."

"I knew I liked you," Chad smirked as he pulled Taylor up from the couch.

"Only if you're sure?" Taylor winced, hesitant to go.

"I'm sure," Gabriella assured her. "Go have fun."

"I'll be right back." She said cautiously. "And try to have fun." Taylor called over her shoulder as Chad led her away. Gabriella couldn't help but smile as she watched the two become swallowed up by the crowd on the makeshift dance floor.

She had been happy like that once. She lifted her beer and took a sip. She used to smile up at Josh as if he'd been a saint. God. She'd been a complete idiot in love and ready to have his babies. She took another sip. Embarrassment flooding her. She had already named their pretend children. Twins. Micheal and Nathan. Addison and Olivia for girls.

This time she took two sips.

"Hey Monty!" Troy Bolton fell into Taylor's vacated seat. His big man body took up more room than Taylor's petite frame had. Annoyed, Gabriella shifted over to put whatever space she could between them.

Her mood tanked even further.

"Go away, Troy."

He let out a laugh. "Heard you and Josh broke up." He leaned towards her. "Well, I heard that he broke up with you, but that's just the details, right?"

Yup. That was it. She was going back to her dorm room.

"Eat shit," She bit out. Just as she made to get up, his hand wrapped around her wrist urging her to stay.

"Relax Monty," he smiled. "Just teasing."

"Don't call me that." She hated that nickname. It was a shortened version of her last name. It was also a reminder from another lifetime ago.

When it hadn't bothered her.

"You know, maybe I should make Josh cookies or something? Commiserate him on joining the ex-boyfriend club."

Yup. She was leaving.

Troy let out another laugh, "okay, okay, okay. I'll stop."

She eyed him disbelievingly.

"How are you, really?" He said with a smile as he nodded in greeting to someone across the room.

Troy had always been the popular guy, he had the ability to walk into any room and be the man of the hour. It's just how he was. A good-mannered southern boy with a heart of gold. Everyone's best friends and every girl's dream.

She used to admire him for it. She used to love how he made her feel like she was in on a secret, part of a special group, someone worthy of standing on that pedestal beside him.

Until it all came crashing down around them.

During their sophomore year of high school, eight months into their wild romance, she walked in on him making out with the cheerleading captain. Sharpay Evans, in all her blonde and pink glitter glory. The way he had her pinned up between him and the chemistry lab closet. His hands on either side of her body as he wrenched apart from her at the sound of Gabriella's gasp.

Her heart had shattered that day. To be honest it hadn't ever fully recovered. It just felt like a bruise every now and then when she thought about it.

They broke up. She dated someone else until senior prom, he didn't date at all. They drifted apart, their lives still merging together on the occasional group project or student council meeting. He'd given her a ride home once or twice from parties or sporting events. But it was like a door shut between them and things were never the same.

Then they were in college, both freshmen on their own for the first time ever and out of their elements. They kept bumping into each other on campus a few times and then one day, that door between them gave out a little.

Things were different. They were different. College was an opportunity to reinvent yourself, a chance to grow, learn and do stupid shit you would regret one day. A failed High School romance seemed so trivial in comparison. So they were friends, they studied together, they hung out sometimes and it made the homesick feelings easier to swallow.

It should be criminal to like your ex. She never thought she would be one of those people who stayed friends with an ex. But here she was, friends with Troy Fucking Bolton.

"I'm fine," she urged. "I just wanna drink myself into a stupor. Pretend the last two years didn't happen. Forget the names of our unborn children."

"Yeah?" Troy said, his features amused. "Well, I'm the designated sober housemate tonight." he lifted a water bottle she hadn't noticed before. "If you want to let loose and get shit-faced, I'll keep an eye on you. Make sure you get home alright." He sounded so genuine that her heart squeezed with a little pang of emotion.

It was really impossible to hate him.

And even that made her hate him a little bit more.

"Taylor was supposed to be my person," She said looking out into the middle of the room where Chad had his tongue down her throat and hand resting on her lower back. "She might be a little distracted though."

"Just a little bit." Troy chuckled.

Gabriella let out a breath, "Thanks for the offer."

"You got it." Troy made to get up. "Give me a tap on the shoulder if you need anything."

Gabriella nodded.

Troy.

A few beers later, Gabriella is up by the built-in bar chanting with a few members of the football team as they take shots.

The entire room is going batshit crazy for Jason Cross who just downed three shots in a row. And Gabriella is leading the cheer. There's nothing lewd about what she's doing. No coy almost stripping, no suggestive dance moves. Gabriella throws her head back happily, her cheeks flush, and her eyes are shining.

He studies her for a moment to gauge where she lands on his incredibly drunk scale. One being sober and ten being I'm going to wake up naked facedown on the football field with no idea how I got there. Since her eyes are still sharp and she's not slurring or stumbling, he decides she's probably at about five. Tipsy, but aware.

His eyes drift over to his basketball teammates in the living room who are setting up a karaoke sound system. Wonderful, give or take a few hours, and the rock music currently blaring from the sonos bar above his head will be replaced with horribly tone death college girls belting out One Direction songs.

"Karaoke time already?" Chad mutters as he and Taylor emerge from upstairs. Their faces flushed and their expressions are secretive, leaving no doubt as to what they've been up to up in Chad's room.

"Yeah, looks that way." Troy lifted his water bottle and took another drink.

"Where's Gabi?" Taylor asks, adjusting her shirt a little. "I swear, I'm like the worst friend in the world."

"Not even close," Troy assured her and pointed in Gabriella's direction. "She's doing just fine."

Taylor arches up on tip toe and places a kiss on Chad's cheek before making her way over to her friend.

"So," Troy says leaning back on the wall behind him. "How's life?"

"Life is good." Chad says leaning against the same wall. "This break up thing has scored me lots of grateful-you're-not-an-ass sex."

"Well at least someone is reaping the benefits." Troy shook his head. He was happy for his friend. Taylor was a good girl. He was skeptical in the beginning, she was Gabriella's roommate after all. He felt responsible for her by association. His eyes drifted over to them as they laughed in unison.

It had taken him a long time to get over that girl. And fuck if he didn't want to kiss her again. Feel her lips on his. Hear that throaty noise she made when he stroked her tongue with his own. Or feel the way her tits pressed against his chest when they were sprawled out on her parents couch as teenagers fumbling in the dark.

Great. Now he was semi hard in the middle of the room teeming with his teammates and friends.

He shifted his gaze and found someone else to look at. It didn't matter who. As long as they weren't her. Gabriella wasn't a Jersey Chaser, she wasn't the kind of girl who hooked up with guys over the weekend.

Gabriella Montez was a girlfriend kind of girl. And girlfriends were a distraction, and he couldn't really afford a distraction right now. He should be focused on his studies, he had two finals to get through and then he had to worry about the next away game.

The memories from their previous venture into a relationship ran through his head. And he shuddered. He'd been an idiot teenage boy, and she was an all too innocent teenage girl. All the shit aside, he liked her, like really, really liked her. But you don't meet the love of your life when you're sixteen.

At sixteen, you don't want to be tied down to the rest of your life. No, at sixteen, you just want to get your driver's license and hang out with your friends. You don't want to be on the fast track to the house with a picket white fence and 2.5 children. You don't want to spend Saturday nights in her parent's living room watching TV while your friends go out and party every night.

He felt suffocated, it was all too much, too soon, too…Disney. No matter how great it felt when she looked at you as if you hung the fucking moon, or tasted like the perfect combination of cotton candy and cherry lip gloss.

Thunderous applause bursts out when the karaoke machine is finally ready to go and the noise of it pulls Troy out of their past.

What the fuck.

His eyes dart over to Gabriella who is mid chugg on another beer. Taylor is standing beside her cheering her on and supporting her friend in her mission to get completely shit-faced.

"Have you heard how the shit-head ended it?" Chad asked.

"Nope." Troy popped the p on the word as he lifted his water bottle for a sip.

Josh had been an okay guy. They had hung out together from time to time but never really built anything further than a surface level friendship.

In the end, it wasn't a complete hardship to see the guy go.

"Taylor said Josh waited untill after the sex to do it. Like pulling on his pants after."

Scratch that previous thought. Josh was a Dick.

"Dick move." Troy shook his head.

Chad craned his neck from right to left, as if working out a kink. "Taylor thinks she could be looking for a rebound tonight."

"She could be." Troy shrugged nonchalantly. Fully aware of the voice in the back of his head that said not tonight, not while she's drinking. Was it considered cock blocking if he made absolutely sure she went to bed alone tonight?

Chad's brows lifted in a knowing expression as he nudged Troy in the ribs.

"No." Troy let out a breath. "I'm not going there again."

Chad huffed a laugh and shrugged, "I'm just saying."

"Say it to someone else." Troy argued as he screwed the cap back on his water bottle. "You weren't there for the first shit show. She's a great girl, but she'll drain the life right out of you."

When Chad's face fell, Troy pressed on.

"I mean it, Gabi is the complete opposite of a no strings attached situation. She's got about as many strings as a fucking tennis racket."

"Wow." A familiar female voice makes his blood run cold.

Son of a bitch.

Troy turned his head to find Gabriella staring at him with an unopened beer in her hand. A familiar flash of hurt in her eyes. As if he was sixteen all over again and pushing an eager and crazy Sharpay Evans off of him after her desperate attempt to lure him in.

God damn it.

She held up the beer in her hand offering it to Chad. "I owed you one."

"Thanks." Chad winced as he took the offered beer.

Troy wet his bottom lip before he began. "Gabriella I-"

"No." She held up her hand and shook her head. "It's fine, really."

His shoulders fell. "Aw shit. Come on Monty."

"No. Really. I really don't give a shit about what you think Troy." She turned away from him and retreated over to the bar area. Taylor's eyes narrowed curiously over Gabriella's shoulder. A warning glare already taking form.

"I'll be back," Troy murmured.

He pushed off the wall and made a beeline over to Gabriella before she could reach Taylor. His hands grabbed her shoulders gently and redirected her towards the back of the house.

She attempted to break free. "Troy. I really don't want to talk."

"Nope, I'm calling a timeout."

She grunts in frustration. "This isn't one of your stupid games."

After two more attempts to break free she gives up and lets him lead her out to the back yard. Away from the noise of the party and the people inside.

Once they were outback he pulled the sliding door shut behind him and followed her out towards the lounge area. It was a little chilly outside, and he braced himself for the chill that crawled up his back. Gabriella didn't seem to be affected, then again she had a bit to drink and he'd bet the alcohol in her system was helping her fight off the chill.

Either way he better make this quick.

"I'm sorry." He said. Meaning it. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her feelings. "I'm an asshole and I'm sorry."

Gabriella quickly wiped at her eyes and then turned away from him. Wiping away more tears. "It's fine, it's just been a real shitty week." Her voice shook a little.

"No. It's not fine. I wasn't thinking, I was talking out of my ass and got a little carried away. I shouldn't have said any of it."

She laughed, and then she sobbed. Bringing both her hands up to her mouth to muffle the sound.

Shit.

"Come on, Monty you know I think you're a-"

"Don't even finish that fucking sentence." Gabriella bit out turning around to issue a forceful shove to his shoulder.

"Jesus, what the hell?" Troy stammered as he looked from his shoulder to her. Okay, she hadn't really shoved him hard. Not even enough to move him, but what the hell?

"I'm so sick of everyone telling me how great I am. Clearly, I'm not a great girl. If I were so great, people would stop dumping me."

Troy winced. Fucking Josh.

"Is that what he said?" Troy asked, coming to stand a little closer to her.

She didn't say anything at first. Her teary brown eyes lifted to his and she just let her shoulder fall in a defeated look. "He said it felt suffocating to be with me."

Troy felt his hands flinch, thankfully she didn't catch it.

"If one person tells you that you're suffocating, it's a matter of personal opinion. But if two people-" her voice faltered and she brought a hand up to cover her mouth again.

Troy let out a sigh and reached her for, pulling her into a hug. She didn't even fight it, just sagged into him and let out another choked sob.

"It's okay," Troy said quietly. "If you're gonna ugly girl cry it out, do it now and let's be done with it."

The permission to fall apart seemed to be exactly what she needed.

He stood there for a while and held on to her as she completely and utterly lost her shit. He hated it when girls cried. Hated it. When a girl cries, it's not usually over one thing. It's built up anger and emotions that she's been holding on too for God only knows how long.

He had three little sisters who taught him that.

And in turn he taught them to cry as hard as they wanted to. Just make sure that when they stop crying, they never cry for the same reason again.

When the waterworks had eventually dried up he ushered upstairs to his room through the kitchen stairway. Best to avoid the crowd when your puffy eyed and blowing your nose into a crumpled tissue.

He offered her one of his shirts, access to his private bathroom and then finally his bed. He could sleep on the couch. It wouldn't kill him.

He returned to the party, giving Taylor an update on Gabriella's situation and Chad a whack across the back of the head for not saying anything about Gabriella standing behind him earlier. Seriously, epic wingman fail.

The next evening he makes his way into the living room after his study group session in the library for his econ class. The house had been pieced back together since the party and now all that remains in it's remembrance is a stack of pizza boxes by the back door and a couple of trashbags.

Chad and Jason are battling each other in a heated game of NBA 2K22, their gazes glued to the flat screen as they furiously click their controllers. Chad's gaze shifts slightly when he notices Troy in the doorway, and his split second of distraction costs him.

"Hell yeah," Jason cheers and jumps up, tossing the controller to the side. "Eat a dick!"

"Not cool," Chad says with a groan as he leans back on the couch. "Hey Troy, there's a chick up in your room."

"A chick?" Troy raises a brow, his attention shifting around the room. And now he's distracted because, Hello? Zeke's in the middle of a half-naked-make-out session happening in the corner of the room. Holy Shit.

"Hey Troy," Zeke's make-out fogged face peeks out over the girl's shoulder. Bare-chested and barefoot, he's sprawled in the arm chair while a blonde in nothing but a lacy black bra and booty shorts sits astride him and grinds against his crotch.

At a loss for words, he holds up a hand and waves like an idiot. "Hi,"

"Troy?" Chad calls to him again and Troy shifts his attention back to Chad.

Shit. "Yeah, sorry? A chick?" Troy asks, snapping back into suspicion mode.

"Monty, she's in your room."

Oh. Monty. He lets out a breath and starts making his way upstairs to his room. This should be good. He'd woken up on the couch this morning and when he went up to his room to check on her, it was empty.

Gabriella

She was alone again in Troy's bedroom, which is not really a new occurrence for her. In fact, two years ago this had been normal behavior for her. She would come here to study, to watch the latest seasons of Shameless or just to hang out whenever she missed home.

And she sure as shit missed home right now.

She winced as her memories from last night resurfaced. Jesus. She'd completely and utterly fell apart in his arms like a teenage girl. What was it about Troy Bolton that made her inner teenage self lose her freaking mind. It's like the guy was catnip and whenever she thought she could rip away from him she just couldn't.

Why was she even here? In his bedroom. She eyed the shirt he'd let her borrow, she'd washed it and brought it back. She didn't want his shirt. Didn't want to be tempted to sleep in it. To cling to it. That would be self sabotage. It would be like falling off the wagon after a stint in rehab.

She winced again. She'd been grateful to him for letting her crash here. Really, she had absolutely no desire to face anyone with her eyeliner smeared around her eyes.

Leaning back in his desk chair, she looked over his things curiously. She was a little surprised Troy had left her up here by herself last night. He hadn't been worried about her snooping around and finding his porn stash, but when she stops to think about it, she realizes it's not that surprising at all. Troy is the most honest, straightforward person she ever met. If he has porn, he probably doesn't bother hiding it.

Nope. She'd bet it was all neatly organized in a clearly labeled folder right on his computer desktop.

She heard noises downstairs, the muffled sound of voices.

She wouldn't have minded waiting for him downstairs but Zeke Baylor and Amy Pierce were going at it in the living room. Right out in the open. No shame whatsoever.

And Amy Pierce looked like a freaking runway model. Nothing like the post break up tragedy Gabriella was currently wearing as a fashion statement. She looked at her reflection in his mirror. She looked like shit. Her hair was piled into a messy bun, her body was hidden beneath an oversized hoodie and she was wearing bright yellow socks with her Nike pink slides.

Shame and discomfort rolled through her in waves. She should go back to her room. She should get up, and head back across campus risking public humiliation by getting something from the student cafe.

Who needed Doritos and Haagen-Daz ice cream?

But then Troy's bedroom door opens and Troy lets himself inside. "Hey."

"Hey," she says quietly.

Before shutting the door he tilts his head to the side as he takes in her oversized hoodie, "Are you wearing pants?"

"What kind of question is that?" she shoots back.

Troy points at her bare legs, "The legitimate kind because you don't look like you are."

She rolls her eyes lifting the hoodie to show him her denim shorts. "I am."

He visibly relaxes and tosses his messenger bag off to the side. He eyes her again suspiciously and then runs a hand through his hair before letting himself fall back onto his bed. "What do you need Monty?"

"Just out of curiosity, where do you keep your porn?"

He sits up right almost immediately. Turning around, his blue eyes glaring at her from his bed. "Does your visit have a point?"

She lets out a nervous laugh then braces herself. She'd gotten this far might as well take the leap. "Came back to return your shirt, and ask if I can use your car?"

Troy's shoulders relax and he lays back down on the mattress with a huff. "You could have kept the shirt. Wouldn't be the first time." Then proceeds to dig around in his pockets before finding the keys in question and holding them up.

She heaves out a sigh of relief. That was much easier than she anticipated. "Thanks, I have some errands to run and I'm in desperate need of some junk food." She says coming over to grab the keys from him.

But he doesn't let go immediately and when she pulls on the keys again he chuckles. "Not so fast Monty. Gotta beg me first."

"God, just when I think you're being a good guy, you do something that reminds me that you're a jerk." She says letting go of the keys.

Why was she even here? She should have asked Taylor for her car, only Taylor was across campus studying at the library. Then, she was heading back here to pick up Chad for their date.

She didn't want to inconvenience her roommate over a family size bag of Doritos. She really should have just called a cab. She pulls out her phone, unlocking the screen. She dials the campus taxi service, only to be placed on hold immediately. As elevator music chirps in her ear she stifles a groan.

"You're on hold, huh?" he smirks.

"Shut up."

A click sounds in her ear, but instead of the dispatcher's voice coming on the line there's another click followed by another swell of music.

Troy smiles triumphantly. "I'm a jerk, but I'm a jerk with a car, Monty."

At that, she hangs up and rolls her eyes. "Can I please use your car?"

He sits up right again and she's forced to take a step back to avoid him being face to face with her breast. "You suck at begging."

"Yeah, well it goes hand in hand with the 'draining the life out of you' bit," she counters, lifting her hands to wrap a pair of air quotes around his previous remark.

His head falls forward and a sigh wooshes out of him. This time when he extends his hand with the keys, she hesitantly reaches for them, and he lets go.

Hello Haagen Daz! She can't help the smile that pulls at her lips. She even gives a little hop in excitement.

He lifts his head and a finger in warning, "That's only gonna make me your bitch for a short amount of time." His eyes narrow at her. "Use it wisely."

"You're the best!" She bends over and grabs his shoulder, pulling him forward for a kiss on the cheek. When she pulls back, he glaring at her.

She laughs and makes her way out the door.

Troy

Two and half hours later, Troy changed out of his clothes and into a pair of gray sweatpants. His econ book rests on his knees as he sits up in bed trying his damndest to finish out the last few pages of the assigned reading.

Just when his eyelids begin to droop, there's a knock on his door and he lets his head fall back against the wall with a soft thud. "Come in."

He glances towards the door and can't help the faint smile at the sight of Gabriella poking her head inside. "I brought your car back. Filled up the tank too."

"Thanks," he lets out a breath and uses a hand to wipe at his eyes. "You can just toss the keys on the dresser." he says looking down at the book again.

"Actually," She shifts in the doorway and he hears the crinkle of a bag. "I brought you back a peace offering."

Troy glances up again and his eyes quickly take in her bare legs. The oversize hoodie she's wearing comes down to her mid-thigh hiding her shorts. It's an unfair illusion, one that makes his dick twitch despite his brain telling him that what he's seeing isn't real. He closes the book in his lap and tosses it off to the side. He needed to stop thinking about whatever she was wearing or not wearing under the hoodie. It didn't matter.

"Bring it here Monty," he says, reaching for the bag.

She pushes the door open the rest of the way and lets herself in quietly pushing the door shut behind her. "I saw these and remembered that you liked them."

"Sounds delightful," he says, watching as she sits down gently on the edge of his bed, a smirk pulling at her lips.

"I don't know what shocks me the most, the fact that you have gray sweatpants or that you're alone in bed with a book." She tilts her head curiously as she pulls out the contents from the bag.

"We'll call it even for the hoodie then." Troy said, eyeballing the 2 pound bag of gummy bears she held out in front of him. "Wow, I haven't had these in forever."

She shrugs, "Remember when we used to study and I'd reward you with gummy bears."

He nodded, "I do remember that."

She tucks a strand of hair behind her ears and shifts uncomfortably. His eyes look back down at the gummy bears in his lap. Suddenly they don't feel like a peace offering. They feel like a bribe.

"What do you want, woman?"

She straightens, "Well," she begins with a wince. "I was gonna attempt to bribe you into hanging out with me for a little bit tonight. Taylor and Chad are out and I really don't want to go back to an empty dorm room. But you look like you were just about to fall asleep."

He grins, "Are you asking me to Netflix and chill with you?"

She cringes, "Not if that's what you're gonna call it."

He lets out a laugh, "Come on," he says moving to get out of bed and grabbing a shirt off the floor. "Let's go see who else is up and order some pizza."

They're twenty minutes into Scott Pilgrim vs. the World when the doorbell rings for the pizzas. They already demolished half a bag of Doritos and a tub of ice cream. Classic junk food he'll be working off tomorrow at the gym.

Zeke and Amy are laid out on the recliner satisfied for the moment in their obvious post glow cuddling fest. Honestly, Troy could care less about what the two of them were up to as long as they didn't go at it again in the living room like they had earlier.

Even with the other couple in the room, things didn't really feel all that weird. Tonight wasn't a date, it didn't even have the proverbial Netflix and Chill vibe. No. This was just a comfort thing. It was normal behavior for them, although it had been a while, he made it a point not to have late nights with other guys' girlfriends.

Not to say they hadn't hung out. They did participate in the occasional group hang out. Sometimes he brought a date, sometimes he didn't. Then Chad asked Taylor out and he was able to distance himself even further. Although, Chad would complain about the double dating situation. Josh was a nice guy and all but Chad and him struggled to find common ground from time to time.

During freshman year, he and Gabriella had hung out quite a bit. Not enough to put them in the relationship category but enough that he could tell she was hiding behind whatever it was they had going on. So he started taking her out to the parties, introducing her to people and getting them both out there.

And for the most part, it worked. She met Josh, and then slowly the hangouts began to decrease. And thank goodness for that.

Troy cracks open a beer, taking a deep swig as Gabriella rips a piece of paper off the towel roll and pries a gooey vegetable-covered slice of pizza out of the box. When she settles back into her spot on the couch she props her feet underneath her. The hem on her hoodie hiking up providing the barest glimpse of frayed denim shorts.

He lifts his beer again.

This is most certainly not a date.

Gabriella

The next morning Gabriella's sitting in the dining hall with Taylor eating breakfast. Last night Taylor had grilled her about finding her over at the house with Troy.

Zeke and Amy had called it a night after the first movie. Rookies. They'd watched another movie before Taylor and Chad had shown up. And then another one with them.

It had been a welcomed distraction. A flooding relief to just hang out with her friends and not worry about Josh and his feelings. Or lack there of really.

How does that even happen? At what point did he discover that his feelings weren't into it? And could that discovery have been made before they had sex?

She let out a sigh, unless having sex with her was the final nail in the coffin. Like, maybe he was coming around to feeling it, when the sex happened and then he was like, nope. No more of this for me please.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Taylor asked as she lifted her coffee to her lips. "You have that horrified look on your face again."

"I am." Gabriella picked at her eggs. "I'm tired of dissecting every word. In the end I think it just means I'm boring."

"You're not boring." Taylor chides.

"I'm not really an exciting kind of girl either." Gabriella rolled her eyes. "I'm a great girl, not a fun girl. I suck the life of men, remember?"

Taylor lets out a sigh. "I still can't believe Troy said that. What an asshole. Seriously, sometimes I don't know why you're friends with him?"

She'd also told Taylor about overhearing what Troy had said to Chad. She had to admit, overhearing a version of Josh's break up speech coming out of Troy's mouth was absolutely soul crushing. Was she really that pathetic? Did she really suck the life out of every guy she dated?

Gabriella sighed. "Because we" she motions between them "didn't meet until sophomore year." She points her fork in Taylor's direction with glare. "You were too busy living off campus." Gabriella says with a frown.

Taylor smirks. "Well, I'm here now. Stop hanging out with him."

Gabriella nodded, chewing on a bit of toast as she considered her friendship with Troy.

She should really try to distance herself from him. Because honestly, it was beginning to feel a little depressing. Likability be damn. Troy Bolton was just bad news.

She really needed a clean break from all her emotional drama. She had to squish all temptations to call Josh or Troy. No contact whatsoever for a few weeks. Or months. Maybe years.

Truthfully, she isn't as heartbroken as she thought she would be by Josh's rejection. Pissed. Annoyed. Disappointed even, but not heartbroken. She knew heartbreak. She experienced that when she caught Troy and Sharpay together. So yeah, she knew she'd be able to survive this break up.

The thing is, she loved Troy. Loved him for years. And Troy did have his sweet moments. Like all the times he came to her rescue or made her laugh, or how he always just seemed to know what she was thinking.

This was a problem. She was already falling into old habits.

"Maybe I need to rebound?" She says cautiously.

"Like what?" Taylor asks. "Like casual sex?"

Gabriella nods, "Yeah, isn't that what all the fun and exciting girls do?"

Taylor lets out a laugh. "Sweetie, your not casual sex material. You're a relationship kind of girl and there is nothing wrong with that."

Gabriella slumps a little. Geez, Taylor's right. She can't even successfully distance herself from Troy. She had a shit day yesterday and instead of sucking it up and being alone she was bribing Troy with gummy bears to watch movies with her. She needed to stop.

Troy Bolton was not her boyfriend. She shouldn't be showing up in his room after she had a bad day. Or shoving her toes under him because they were cold. Or falling apart in his arms because he made her feel safe. Taylor starts talking about some party off campus on Friday night but Gabriella's too busy dealing with the realization that apparently she's helpless without a boyfriend.

Was she, was she codependent? Was that even the right word and is that why she stood with Josh because she couldn't handle being alone. She had a boyfriend the entire time she was in high school too. OK. Maybe she was making a mountain out of a molehill right now. Just because she always had a boyfriend didn't mean she had issues. Right?

She liked having a boyfriend, she liked holding hands and kissing and snuggling and telling each other about their days. That didn't mean she needed one at all times. So, yeah maybe she sucked at the causal thing. Plenty of other women had problems separating emotions from sex all the time.

Still. She pushed her cold eggs around on her plate. This whole thing was very disheartening.

She looks back up at Taylor who's still talking. Something about Chad being busy and having a girls night. And you know what? Maybe that's exactly what she needed.

"I'm in."

Troy

Gabriella is wasted.

Not only that but she is refusing to go home. It's one in the morning, and the party hasn't slowed down. Taylor has been trying to wrangle Gabriella out the door for the last thirty minutes.

But there's always one last song, one last drink, one last I gotta say hi to whoever.

It's slowly becoming crucial that he steps in. Chad couldn't make it tonight, so Troy inadvertently felt responsible for both girls.

So much for celebrating the win from last night's game. He wasn't too big on drinking to begin with. It messed with his head, and the hangovers weren't worth it. During the season he kept his limit to three beers over the weekend and only one beer during the week nights, if he was out.

His ears picked up the sound of her laughter and his eyes darted back in her direction.

Gabriella has gone from playful drunk to twerking drunk and she's currently dancing suggestively with one of the guys from the football team. Her already short black skirt is on the rise up her thigh. Her tank top bunching on her waist showing off a sliver of her caramelized stomach. Her hair falls down around her shoulders, the curls bouncing playfully as she moves. Completely oblivious to Taylor who is tapping away at her phone. Probably complaining to Chad about the current situation.

A pang of annoyance hits him as he lets out a sigh and excuses himself from the redhead currently playing with the hem of his shirt. So much for getting laid tonight.

He marches up to Gabriella and the football player forcibly pulling them apart, and laying a firm hand on Gabriella's shoulder. "I need to talk to you!" He shouts over the music.

She pouts, "I'm dancing."

"We're dancing," the football player slurs.

Troy levels a hard glare at the football player. "Dance with someone else," he snaps.

As if on cue, a willing female partner appears like an apparition and yanks him into her arms. Gabriella is all but forgotten, which allows Troy an opportunity to straighten Gabriella's skirt and drag her into the hallway without any further objections.

"Thanks," Taylor mutters from behind him as they make their way outside and onto the front porch. There are still party goers coming and going from the house so Troy grips onto her a little tighter as he ushers both girls over to the side.

"No problem," Troy says, shifting his stance so that Gabriella's weight rests against his side. "Where's your car?"

"But I'm having fun," Gabriella whines.

Taylor lets out a breath as she looks out into the street crowded with double park cars then next door. Troy spots her little red Toyota boxed in between a bunch of haphazard cars parked in the vacant lawn next door. Yeah, her car isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

"I can take you home, Chad and I will come back for it in the morning."

"Where did you park?" Taylor spits out at him with an annoyed look. No clue what that's all about. He hadn't done anything wrong to his knowledge. Unless helping a drunk friend get home was means for resentment these days

"Three blocks away from all the drunken idiots."

"Three blocks," Gabriella whines with an exaggerated sigh, then she wraps her arms around Troy's shoulder burying her face into his shirt. "God, you smell really good."

Troy grins even though he knows he shouldn't. "Come on, we better get going."

Taylor crosses her arms over her chest and surveys her friend with reluctance. "I don't think she'll make it three blocks."

Troy nods in agreement, and then proceeds to bend down and swoop her up. Carrying a soon to be asleep Gabriella bridal style down the porch steps. They walk in silence for a moment and he almost believes they'll make it to the car in peace when Taylor decides to break her silence.

"Why did you say all the crap last weekend?" Taylor asks as she falls into step beside him. "She's already dealing with a bad breakup, and then you come along and put more shit in her head."

And just like that understanding clicks into place. Her dirty looks, her angry glare, the girls ignoring him most of the night. She's upset with him for hurting her friend's feelings. And honestly, it's a legit reason.

"Because I was trying to make a point." Troy said, smothering a groan as the girl in his arms snuggled into his chest. Seriously, why do girls do that?

"What was the point? that you're an asshole?" Taylor asks.

"No." Well, that was a lie. He was trying a little bit to be an asshole. The lie rubs at his gut and he lets out a sigh. "Yes."

Taylor lets out a snort.

Troy rolls his eyes at her. "I didn't say it because I thought it was true, I said it because every now and then I need a reminder on why things didn't work out."

Taylor looks up at him with a sharp inhale. "What do you mean, you need a reminder?"

They still had two blocks to go. And he could tell she wasn't the kind of girl who could be distracted. No way she was gonna let this go.

"Because relationships are a fucking pain in the ass sometimes." He mumbled. "And I don't have the time for a girlfriend."

"That is such a guy thing to say." Taylor huffs.

"News flash," Troy argued. "I'm a guy."

Taylor waved away his argument. "Seriously, with that logic you might as well stop eating because it takes too long to eat."

"I need to focus on my classes to make sure I stay on the team, I need to stay on the team so I have a shot at being drafted." Troy countered. "Between studies and practice I don't have a lot of free time."

"Yet, you're at every party?"

At that, he had nothing to say. He could feel her rolling her eyes. Women. They walked for a little while in silence. Neither one of them happy about being in each other's company.

Gabriella begins to snore softly in his arms and Troy adjusts his hold on her so her limbs don't hang awkwardly.

Taylor doesn't let the silence linger long. She also doesn't skirt around the issue either. "So what then? you're secretly in love with her or something?"

Troy let out a stream of air in defeat, because there's no way to answer that question without him sounding like an asshole."It's complicated."

"Or you're secretly in love with her." he can hear her smirk. "Honestly, it's the only thing that makes sense."

This time Troy rolls his eyes, "We're good together, I'm willing to admit that. But when we got together the first time things got complicated, feelings were hurt, we almost didn't talk again until we bumped into each other on campus during orientation."

Taylor shrugs, "So?"

Troy narrows his gaze at her, "I don't know if you know this but she's a team boyfriend kind of girl. And I don't do relationships."

They finally got to his car and he tilted his left hip toward Taylor. "Can you get the keys?"

Taylor lets out a huff as her hand enters his pocket and roots around for the key. "She likes you. You know that, don't you?" She holds up the keys and hits the key fob button.

Troy motions to the back door and Taylor opens it for him so he could place a sleeping Gabriella in the back seat. "She just likes the idea of me as her boyfriend. She forgets how much I suck at it."

When he pulls away from Gabriella he trucks a strand of dark brown hair behind her ear and picks up his jacket from the floor placing it over her gently. When he stands up, Taylor's leaning on the side of the car looking at him with a knowing expression. "You seem like a good boyfriend to me."

"You're too kind." He takes the keys from her and opens the passenger door. "The thing is, we did this already. Back when I had classes to pass and basketball practice four times a week. It didn't work out then, why would it work out now. Nothing's changed."

Taylor doesn't get in the car right away. She's still leaning against the car watching him suspiciously. "You're being an idiot. Y'all are stuck in a vortex of fear and miscommunication. Someone has to break through it first."

"Or I'm just being an honest guy about the whole thing." Troy shrugs, "It's less painful this way, trust me."

"But it's not." Taylor pushes herself off the car and gets into the seat. She doesn't say anything else and he smiles softly at her before closing the door. She doesn't say anything else for the rest of the drive home and he's relieved for that.

Once he's gotten both girls inside for the night and safely behind a locked dorm room door he made his way back to his car. That conversation replayed in his mind.

When did the reminders start?

These days his eyes seemed to find Gabriella a little quicker than they usually did in a crowd. His ears favored the sound of her laughter. It had a musical quality to it, a husky pitch that tickled his ears.

Something tickled inside him now. Like a realization that snuck up on him.

His hands came to rest on the roof of the car as he looked up at the window of her dorm room. The last time he shoved feelings for Gabriella back into a jar she'd been just starting out with Josh.

Which had been ridiculous, he practically shoved her into the guys arms while he ran for the hills. But now the feelings were back and Gabriella was single. That jar inside him rattled. So okay, he had feelings. He thought about that for a minute. Then thought about her in his arms tonight, his fingers pressed into the cool metal of his car. Flashes of her smile, her touch, her laugh. Her. With him. Flashes of them together. A small smile pulled at his lips.

This feeling of decisive content rippled through him. The urge to run didn't follow, he crossed the threshold of the idea and didn't feel the slamming of the door behind him. So that was it then. He was done trying to trick myself into thinking he wanted anyone other than Gabriella. In fact, If it's not with her, he didn't want it. Period.

So yeah, maybe it was time to break through that vortex.

Gabriella

Her head was pounding, from the attempt to shove as much information into it at once. Sometimes she wondered if she was really cut out for this. Sure, one day she hoped to help families as a therapist. But right now, right now she just wanted a bag of Doritos and a few episodes of Friends.

She needed a break.

"Take the break," His whispers in her ear caused her entire body to leap two inches off of her seat.

The sound of Troy's chuckle came around the table as he sat down across from her. So much for no contact and clean breaks. Troy Bolton was the hardest person to avoid on the planet. He was everywhere on campus, every party, the coffee shop, the dinning hall and now showing up at the library.

God, he looks good. Eyes down. You're not talking to him, remember?

"You're avoiding me."

She glances back up at him in defeat. "Just a bit."

"A bit? There aren't degrees of avoidance, Monty. You're either avoiding someone, or you aren't."

And on that note, she should leave. Gabriella lets out a huff as she closes her notebook. "Not true. Sometimes there are extenuating circumstances. Unexpected variables."

"Such as?"

Well, shit. Alarm flickers through her. When an answer doesn't come to her she lets out a sigh. "Does your presence have a point?"

He smiles in triumph, "I've been thinking?"

"This should be interesting," she says with a snap of annoyance.

"We should go out."

His sentence hangs in the air for a moment. Then because she is completely caught off guard by this statement she looks around the library searching for the person who's recording this interaction with a cellphone. When she doesn't find any one hovering nearby she looks back at him to find him sitting up a little straighter.

Oh, no. This wasn't happening. This was a hallucination. She officially spent too much time with her nose in a book and now she was high off the ink fumes.

"Come on, Monty." he says with a soft tone. "We still have chemistry, I know you feel it."

Her mouth falls open indignantly. "No."

"What?"

Gabriella lets out a huff and begins packing away her things. "You can't be serious," she says, pushing back in her chair. "You cheated on me for fuck sake."

A murmured shush can be heard from two tables down and Gabriella winces as she mouths an apology

Troy rolls his eyes, obviously not concerned with their surroundings. "Really? Come on Monty, we're both adults now. Plus Sharpay came on to me. I didn't ask to be kissed. I was mauled. When you walked in I was putting an end to it."

"Oh, well that explains everything." Gabriella waves a dismissive hand through the air. "Silly me for not reading the situation for what it was," she whispered-yelled. Because, hello? Library. "Have you seeked counseling for the attack on your virtue or have you been dealing with it through drugs and alcohol?"

Troy's jaw clenched and his eyes flared. Heaven help her, the sight of him so uncontrolled for once made her stomach flip. No. That was not exciting. Because if she were excited. And she wasn't. That would mean she was considering this insanity.

"We put it behind us."

Gabriella let out a sharp laugh. "No, we didn't. We just stopped talking and screaming at each other about it."

Another mumbled shushing noise from across the room gets pointed towards them.

"That kiss had nothing to do with our break up and you know that." Troy shot back, pushing himself up into a standing position. "It may have started the argument but you know as well I do we both got freaked out by how fast things were going between us."

Gabriella flinched, then she shoved the last of her things into her bag. "Get over yourself."

"Monty."

She needed to leave. The library was supposed to be sacred space, now it was tarnished with Troy's stupidity and audacity. Gabriella lifted her bag and began making her way out of the library. "Goodbye Troy."

She could feel his eyes on her as she made her way to the main doors. She didn't want to turn around, didn't want to catch a glimpse of him glaring at her like she knew he was.

"Hey Gabi,"

Crap.

Gabriella's steps slowed as she turned to find Josh heading in her direction. Of all the people she didn't want to see right now. He was at the top of that list.

"Hey," she said once he was close enough to hear her.

"I was just heading in to do some research," he said, motioning towards the library behind her.

She felt the tingles of irritation licking up her spine making her shoulders tight with tension. "I was just heading out."

Not that she owed him any status reports on her life. She could be on her way to an epicly awesome event for all he knew.

"How have you been?" Josh asks, shifting his books from one arm to the other. "Heard you were at Johnny's party last weekend."

Is that whose party she was at? She hadn't known much about the details seeing as how she'd spaced out when Taylor had given them to her.

"Yeah, it was fun," she nodded. At least it was fun from what she could remember. She had gotten all dressed up like a girl who had fun. She drank, danced, laughed and then completely blacked out like a girl who had fun. Being fun was exhausting and horrifying.

She hated not being in control and felt the horror and embarrassment flood her when Taylor explained that Troy had so gallantly carried her to the car and made sure he put her into bed afterwards. A very boyfriend-like thing to do for someone who wasn't her boyfriend.

Josh was staring at her in a funny way. A small smile tugged at his lips. "You always looked good when you let your hair down."

"Thanks?" Gabriella quirked her brow. Was that supposed to be a compliment? Why did boys do that? "Yeah, I'm going to get going now," she said motioning towards the path up ahead leading back to her dorm.

"Hey, listen." Josh said, holding out a hand. "Maybe we could go out to the bar tonight, talk about things?"

"Talk about what things?" She should really go. Curiosity had killed the cat.

"You know," Josh shrugged. "Things?"

Gabriella let out a laugh, she really couldn't help it. "Are you kidding?" God, mark today down in the record books. Not only had one ex-boyfriend asked out now two of them had. Somewhere, someone was documenting the insanity that was her life for a future sitcom. "I really don't know what on earth we would have to talk about."

The easygoing smile on Josh's face slipped a little and he blinked as if trying to understand some foreign language that was coming out of her mouth.

"I'm sorry?"

Gabriella shook her head, "I rather wash my hair."

"Gabi I-"

She didn't let him finish, didn't let him take up anymore of her time. She turned to keep walking down the path, done with the conversation. Over the entire day for that matter. She went to a party, she got drunk, she lived the life of fun. She was over it. She wanted to be back in her dorm room, in her bed, eating Doritos and rewatching Friends.

Troy

"Are you completely insane?" Chad's voice sounded from the doorway of his bedroom followed by the feel of a thud against the back of his head.

Troy looked down to see what had been thrown to find a nerf ball rolling to a stop under his desk.

"I really don't feel like talking about it." Troy leans back in his chair looking up at the ceiling.

Jesus, he knew it was only a matter of time before Chad found out about this afternoon, but he had hoped it would have been longer than a couple hours.

"You asked her out." Chad asked in disbelief. "After all that shit you talked the other night?"

He turned to see the angry expression on Chad's face.

"Why the fuck are you so upset?" Troy stood up from his seat, giving up on his studies.

"Because your decisions are fucking with my sex life." Chad growled. "Yesterday, I got a blow job outside of Walgreens in the car. Today, I'm getting my ass handed to me because you're a cheating, arrogant asshole."

Troy winced, "sorry man."

Chad rolled his eyes as he came further into the room and jumped onto his bed. "Why?"

Troy shrugged, "I don't know, it's hard to explain. One minute Taylor's asking a bunch of questions, the next I'm thinking maybe she's right? Maybe it won't be so bad?"

"Taylor?" Chad sits up right. "Wait, Taylor talked you into this?"

Troy nodded, "She's the one that told me Monty still had feelings for me."

Chad makes an audible hump sound and then reaches into his pocket for his phone.

It's quiet for a moment while he taps away at the screen. Probably to Taylor. Actually he's pretty sure it is. Then after a few taps on the screen Chad looked up again. A smirk on his lips.

"Feel better?" He asked.

Chad lifts his hands up behind his head and smiles. "Much."

Great, now he was sure Taylor would kill him. With a shrug, Troy let out a breath and then decided to just go for it.

If you had told him a few weeks ago that he would be here spilling his guts about his actual feelings for Gabriella, he probably would have pissed himself laughing.

He didn't do relationships. He hadn't been in one since Gabriella. But now, when he thought about it. Having someone to cuddle with, that person being her. Being allowed to touch her or kiss her when he wanted to. Suddenly having a girlfriend didn't sound so bad. It felt nice.

"Here's the thing." Troy said, not completely sure he should be telling any of this to Chad. "That night she came over to watch movies was different. I don't know why it felt different, we really just fell into an old habit but that's the thing. It did feel different. So yeah, when Taylor said that it made me wonder."

"Alright," Chad let out a sigh as he began to get up.

"Alright?" Troy quirked a brow.

"It's whatever dude, I knew you liked her. That much was obvious." Chad shifts so both his feet are on the floor pausing at the edge of the bed before getting up. "But heads up Josh also asked her out."

Troy felt his stomach twist.

Chad shrugged. "She said no."

"Yeah well, she said no to me too." He said solemnly.

Knowing Josh had also crashed and burned made him feel a little better about his own rejection. But a rock still sat in his stomach. Josh was already regretting his stupid decision to end things.

How determined was Josh to get her back? Troy had finally arrived at this certainty between them and now he was competing? With Josh? Well, that wasn't happening. He wasn't going away that easily. Josh didn't spend a lot of time around athletes. They were a stubborn lot, and the main thing they all have in common? They never gave up.

God help him, he was going to convince this girl to give him another chance, even if he died trying.

But then what?

Was that it? Did they date for a few weeks, months? Until things fizzled out? Was she going to be okay if he was busy doing his own thing once he was drafted? Would she expect them to get married right away?

Did he want to be married right away?

Troy brought a hand to the back of his neck trying to rub at the tension building there.

Jesus this girl made him crazy.

The next day Troy leaned against the countertop manning the register during his shift at the bookstore. When the bell chimed he glanced over to see Gabriella walking in alongside a blonde. They were talking adamantly as they disappeared into one of the aisles.

He stood up straight to find her in the snack section. Admiring the way her ponytail sagged a bit over her left shoulder, the way her Harry Potter t-shirt hung off her one shoulder revealing a red bra strap. Or was it a tank top?

The mystery made his fingers trum along the countertop. Fuck, she was gorgeous. From her soft skin to the way her jeans seem to cling to her round behind. There was something to notice about every inch of her.

She bumps into another customer offering a murmur of apology as she made her way around him. The poor guy was dumbstruck by her gorgeous brown eyes.

Maybe he's just being paranoid. But hell, apparently he was already competing with Josh for Gabriella's affections and the last thing he wanted was another dude in the picture.

His eyes followed her through the store and he smirked when her brown eyes glanced back at him. She continued to browse a little while longer, nodding along to her friends rambling.

"Hey Troy," a female customer came up to the register and for the next three minutes of their transaction he endures the blatant flirting and undisguised interest of a curly haired brunette who's purchasing a textbook. He's polite, but he doesn't flirt back.

The only person he's interested in is Gabriella and his gaze sticks to her like glue as she follows her friend through the store. He wouldn't put it past her to make a run for it when he wasn't looking. Her eyes find him again while she's standing by a rack of keychains. Then she crinkles her nose at him in her signature cute smile. It's her "knock it off" look. When he shakes his head she smiles back at him. And his heart bursts. It's wide open, completely hers for the taking. Always has been.

After another minute the two girls come up to the counter and he rings up the blonde first. His eyes peeking over at Gabriella every now and then as he listens to their plans for an upcoming study group.

When he was finished and had bagged her items she bid her goodbyes and explained she had to get to class.

He really liked her friend. She didn't linger.

He can't fight the grin that stretches across his face. The bell over the door goes off and Troy picks up the bag of Doritos.

"Still a fiend for these huh?"

"All the time." She says reaching into her wallet for her debit card.

"If you're interested, we could get together tonight for a movie."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not."

Troy let out a huff, "Not even if I promise to have a family size bag of Doritos on hand?"

"Not even then." She puts her card in the machine, avoiding his gaze.

"Why not gorgeous?" He pushed.

Her eyes came up to him, a flash of irritation followed by amusement washed over her features. "Troy Bolton, why are you hitting on me after all this time?"

He smirked. "So you know what my intentions are."

Her cheeks tint in a light pink as she eyes him suspiciously.

"Why?"

"Why not?" He counters.

She watches him for a moment. And for a moment he's hopeful that she might give in and accept his invitation.

But he knows better, because when her lips pull into a smirking smile she shakes her head. "I'm damn proud of the fact that you've never seen me naked. And I'm not about to let you see me naked anytime soon."

Troy cocked a brow. "But you want me to see you naked eventually." He murmurs suggestively.

Her mouth falls open and she glances around the mostly empty book store.

"I wouldn't be so blunt if we could be overheard." He says quietly. "Honestly, I'm just happy knowing that you think about being naked with me."

Gabriella shakes her head looking at him in disbelief. "Is this how it's gonna be between us now?"

"Until you say yes."

Gabriella lets out a laugh. "You're something else. Does this actually work on women? Being obnoxious?"

"Well, you're still here," he says, eyeing her bagged up items. "And the transaction is complete."

At that she rolls her eyes and grabs her bag. "Goodbye Troy."

"Later Monty."

Gabriella

Two weeks later.

She's waitressing at The Brick, a popular grill house in town. She'd gotten lucky and landed the job her sophomore year. She didn't particularly hate the job but she didn't love it either. It paid well and it was close to campus. It was either a ten minute bus ride or a five minute drive to The Brick from her dorm room. Tonight she had to take the bus because Taylor was working at the sports center which was clear across campus.

The rain outside poured relentlessly, making visibility almost impossible. She really needed to start saving up for a car.

As her shift wore on the rain slowed to a drizzle. She was well into her routine when about thirty minutes before her shift was over Troy took a seat at her section.

Seriously.

Did the guy ever give up?

She had no desire to go over there and serve him, but unfortunately she didn't have much of a choice. Maddie, the other waitress on duty, was busy tending to a group of faculty members at a table across the room.

With a begrudging sigh she grabs a menu and heads over to his booth. She smacks the menu onto the table, making her displeasure known. His twinkling blue eyes look up at her with amusement.

"Hey Monty, fancy meeting you here."

"Yeah, fancy," she mutters, yanking the notepad from her apron. "What can I get you?"

"A date."

"Sorry," Gabriella says sweetly, "that's not on the menu but we do have that patty melt that you usually order."

Troy reaches for the menu and gives it a cursory glance. Then he smiles at her. "I'll have that patty melt."

Gabriella lowers her notepad with a sigh. "That's all?"

"I'd also really like to drive you home tonight." He smiles up at her innocently and her heart thumps traitorously.

"No need, I'm taking the bus back."

"Come Monty," he says sincerely. "I used to give you a lift back all the time. Nowadays I barely see you around anymore."

"I'd disagree." Gabriella shakes her head and looks down at her watch. "It feels like every time I turn around, you show up."

"Good." He says with a laugh. "I'm counting on that proximity to bring you to your senses"

"Oh sweet butter nutters, I'm not going to date you, okay? Go bug a cheerleader." she points at the menu in front of him. "Is that it?"

He smirks this time, his lips press together as if trying to hold back a laugh. He reaches out a hand letting his knuckle run over her arm in a light brush, "let me take you home because it's miserable outside and we both know you hate the bus."

Her heart hammers in her chest. And she clamps down on the urge to lean in closer to him. "If I let you drive me home, will that satisfy this delusion of yours."

"It's a start."

She groans and turns away from him before he could say anything else.

She wraps up another three tables and helps Maddie clean up after the faculty group. Maddie is a local resident, she graduated last year with a degree in pre med and starts medical school next semester. She's gorgeous and downright likable by everyone at the restaurant.

"Is that Troy?" Maddie says with a knowing smirk.

"Yeah, he's giving me a ride back home."

"About time," she says with a laugh, "He's been in here three times this week looking for you."

Gabriella rolls her eyes. "Great, he's stalking me."

Maddie chuckles. "Nah, he seems sweet. I think he's pursuing you. It's kind of romantic." she says the last part with a bit of sigh.

"I've been pursued by Troy before." Gabriella says with a shake of her head as she lifts a pile of discarded plates. "He doesn't do relationships."

Maddie laughs, "Well, you know what they say about athletes."

"What's that?"

Maddie grins. "If you want your car fixed you see a mechanic," Maddie reaches over and takes the piles plates from Gabriella hands. "But if you want someone to fuck your brains out, you go out with an athlete."

Gabriella's laughs, taken aback for a moment. Unable to formulate a response. Her eyes dart over to Troy who is still sitting in his booth, reading from a text book and sipping coffee.

"Your shift ended fifthteen minutes ago," Maddie says, nudging her softly. "Go have fun with your boy toy."

Gabriella rolls her eyes, "I'll see you Tuesday." She calls out as she begins making her way over to the small room in back where the staff keeps their things. She doesn't risk a glance at him, but she can feel his steel blue eyes on her.

She would be lying if she said the thought of sex with Troy hadn't crossed her mind a time or two. A flooding warmth spreads through her at the memory of their makeout sessions making her sex clench with need.

The idea of his body crushed hard against her own. His hands caressing her breast, those lips. God. She grabbed her jacket and shrugged into it. She shouldn't be thinking of this right now. Not when she was about to be alone with him.

When she comes back into the main dining room Troy's standing by the register, tucking his wallet into his back pocket. His blue eyes locked with hers. She gulps, as the reality hits her. The last time she was pursued by Troy he'd been a cocky sixteen year old showing off on the basketball court and fumbling his way through asking her out. This time he wasn't showing off, and he wasn't fumbling through anything.

No, this time he wasn't a boy at all. Maybe she was just coming to this conclusion now because she'd been too distracted by how insufferable he was, but Troy had grown up. There was nothing boyish about him, not his chiseled good looks or his tall frame or that ripped chest of his, which suddenly flashes to mind as she remembers him lounging in his bed shirtless.

Shit.

"Ready?" he says with a small smile, as if reading her mind.

She nods following him out to his car, he leads her to the passenger side and she eyes him suspiciously as he reaches for the door and pulls it open for her. Troy had always been a gentleman in that way. He got the door, the check, helped a girl down from the fence when sneaking onto a baseball field in the middle of the night to lay back on the grass and watch the stars.

It was part of his charm. Why many women we're struck dumb in his presence. She narrowed her eyes as he motioned for her to get in.

"Come on Monty," he mocks playfully. "You know I'm not going to bite you."

With a sigh she gets into the passenger seat watching him as he shuts her door with a chuckle and makes his way around to the driver's side door. Don't fall for it. Don't let him lure you into his trap. She was working on her independence. Taking time to be alone. Figuring out what she wanted her life to look like after they graduated. She was not going to let this man who didn't commit re-break her heart.

He slid into the seat beside her as she clicked her seatbelt into place, his presence overwhelming her with his scent, followed by his warmth which radiated off his arms as he put on his own seatbelt. God, she loved the way he smelled. There was something about Troy that made her feel wrapped up in comfort.

"How are classes going?" he asked, turning partially in his seat to reverse out of the parking spot.

"There okay," she answered, her eyes watching the water drops from the evening rainstorm run down the window. "I've joined a study group for my community health services class. I don't think anyone likes me though."

"That's impossible," Troy nudged her. "You're super star smart and sweeter than iced tea. What's not to like?" his answering grin speeds up her pulse. God, he's got a sexy smile. Slightly crooked, and everytime he flashes it, his eyes twinkle playfully.

"Were you always this cheesy?" she asks, leaning away from him a little. As if the distance might shove some common scenes into her libido. "You should know, I am actually taking time to work on myself right now."

"Is that right?" his gaze travels over her again, a hot lingering perusal that crackles along her skin like an electric current.

Gabriella nods, "It's why I'm single and intend to stay that way. I don't want to be codependent. I want to be the kind of girl who isn't afraid to be alone."

Troy stops at the redlight and takes a moment to glance in her direction. His eyes narrowed questioningly. "Who said you were afraid to be alone?"

"I did." Gabriella said assuringly. "I feel like I've been jumping from relationship to relationship. I've never had to actually be alone."

"That doesn't mean you're afraid to be alone. That just means you have a preference when it comes to sharing your time with someone. You don't have meaningless relationships."

They fall into silence. Her eyes drift towards the window again as they pull into the parking lot of her dorm.

"Look, Troy you're really sweet but," Gabriella began as he pulled into a spot just in front of the main doors. She undoes her seatbelt, fully prepared to bolt. "I'm taking a page out of your playbook. Relationships are distractions. And right now it's a no for me."

Troy turns off the car and nods. "Well, I don't want to be a distraction, but I do want you. I think there's something here, but I'm a patient guy and I'll take what you have right now. So if friendship is all you have to offer, I can do that."

Whoa. Her heart pounds inside her chest as she watches him stretch out a hand in her direction. He can't possibly want this… can he? Her palms are damp, but she resists wiping them on the front of her leggings because she doesn't want him to know how unnerved she is. His entire body is radiating heat, the faint scent of his woodsy aftershave, the slight curve of his mouth as he awaits her next move.

She takes his hand and his firm but soft grip around her sends a tingle up her arm. And that tingle lights up a fire. Parts of her she hadn't known could tingle, tingled. Her heart beat is out of control. A fast drumbeat in her ears, a frantic hammering against her ribs.

She could feel herself leaning in closer to him. Wondering what his kiss might feel like. It had been a really long time since she'd kissed him last. She couldn't even remember it. Her brain raced back to her high school days, trying to pinpoint that last kiss. The last time his lips met hers, if he had made the first move, or if it was mutual. A sigh escapes her lips at the thought.

Did she just sigh out loud?

His hold on her hand shifts and his thumb lightly strokes the back of her hand in his grasp, and she has to stop herself from purring like an affection-starved cat. "What are you doing?" she whispers.

"Well, I don't want to alarm you, but you're looking at me like you want me to kiss you." his blue eyes soften a bit, becoming heavy-lidded even. "So I was thinking I might do that."

Of course he wants to kiss her. But did she want to be kissed?

"Unless I misread the moment?" he offers.

She gulps. He was giving her an out. She should take it. She should take it, get out of the car and go upstairs to her room. To her bed. To her Troy-less bed. Her eyes fall to his lips again and she shakes her head.

His laughter heats the air between them, "Is that a no to misreading the moment, or a no to me kissing you?"

"I want to kiss you." The sentence is out of her mouth before her brain can stop it.

"Well, I have no intentions of stopping you." He leans back a little and she frowns at the new distance between them. He had been so close before, so reachable. It would have been easy to let him just lean in and cover her lips with his own.

"Monty?" he asks softly. "Come here."

The second their lips meet, the strangest thing happens. Her body takes over and she becomes a full wanton slut. The pulsing waves of heat unfurl inside her, starting at her mouth then rippling down her body, tingling in the tips of her breast before traveling even lower. He tastes like warm coffee and the flavor suffuses her taste buds. Her lips part of their own volition, and Troy takes full advantage by sliding his tongue inside.

When her tongue touch his, he makes a low, growling noise in the back of his throat, and the erotic sound vibrates through her body as she pulls him closer to her. One minute her hands are bunched in his shirt and then she's climbing over the middle counsel, into his lap, trapped between him and the steering wheel and there is no place else she would rather be.

Immediately, she's hit with a jolt of panic that spurs her to break the kiss.

"Do friends kiss?" she says with a shaky breath.

Troy's eyes are molten. "Friends with benefits do."

His big hand reaches up to her face sliding in to cup her cheek.

This should be her cue to leave.

Instead, she leans in for another kiss.

And it's just as eerily incredible as the first. His tongue slicks over hers and she strokes his cheek, and God, that's a big mistake because the scratchy feel of his stumble on her palm intensifies the pleasure already wreaking havoc on her body. His face is strong and masculine and sexy and the sheer maleness of him triggers another burst of need.

She shouldn't need more. She didn't expect to need more.

But damn it. She needs it and he's willing to give it.

With an angusihed moan, she angles her head to deepen the kiss, and her tongue eagerly explores his mouth. No, not eagerly, hungrily. She's hungry for him and grinding against him in desperate need of release.

Troy threads his fingers through her hair and tugs her closer, one powerful arm curling around her hips to keep her in place on top of him as she grinds against him. Her breasts are now crushed against his rock-hard chest, and she can feel the wild hammering of his own heart. His excitement matches her own. The raw, husky groan he releases tickles her lips and sends her pulse flying.

Something's happening to her, she can't stop kissing him. He's too addictive. And even though this might have started with her somewhat in charge, she's no longer in control.

Troy's mouth moves over hers with skill and confidence that steals the breath from her lungs. When he nibbles on her bottom lip, she can feel an answering tug in her nipples and she presses a palm to his chest as a cloud of pleasure overwhelms her, building and tightening inside of her so fast.

His hot lips leave hers and travel along her jawline, dipping down to her neck, where he plants an open-mouthed kiss that makes her moan even louder.

"I missed that little spot," he rasps. "I remember how it use to make you moan all the fucking time."

She moans now, rubbing over the hard bulge of his pants, oh God, she was going to shatter into a million happy pieces right here in the front seat of his car. She grinds against him again, a low whimper escaping her lips.

"Go head baby, take what you want."

Her entire body stiffens as a tidal wave of pleasure erupts from inside her. The warmth of it spreads all over her as his lips cover hers, swallowing up that last moan from her lips as she climaxes right there in his lap, in the front seat of his car. Parked in the student parking lot. And although she would deny it outright if he ever asked, it is probably the best orgasm she has ever had with her clothes on.

Sweet Jesus.

She melts into him, burying her face in the nook of his neck. A blended sensation or modification and satisfaction fighting inside of her.

A slow rumble of laughter fills the air and Gabriella picks her head up to find Troy looking back at her with amusement and fascination.

"I can't believe you just did that," he says with wide eyes.

"Oh god," she moves for the door handle wrapping her hand around it and opens the door when his own firm hand comes over hers pulling the door shut.

"I'm not in a position to chase you up those stairs right now," he says, pushing his hips up against her and allowing her to feel the rock hard bulge of his jeans. "That was incredibly hot and I know you're about to freak out but can you do that after I walk you to the door?"

Gabriella's eyes glance around the parking lot. Checking for any onlookers who might be staring at them with horror.

"No one saw," he murmurs quietly, reaching up to her hair and wrapping a curl from her around his finger. The action of it was almost endearing until his amused gaze sweeps back up to hers. "You're a lot more vocal than I remember."

She shoves him softly and he lets out another laugh. And no matter how hard she tries a smile pulls at her lips. Damn him.

"Okay, okay, okay" he says, letting out a sigh and placing his hands around her waist. "Do you want to talk about whatever that was? If not, I promise to play a rare gentleman's card and never bring this up again, if that's what you want?"

Her brown eyes meet his, and the absurdity of this moment makes her lips twitch as she tries to fight back another laugh.

"I have no clue what I'm doing," she admits with a wince, "And I feel like I just took advantage of you after explicitly trying to let you down easy."

"Hell, you can take advantage of me whenever you want to," he says with a soft smile. "I already told you I'm not going anywhere."

Gabriella shifts back over the console landing with an unsexy thump back into the passenger seat. God, how had she gotten over that thing the first time so quickly.

Oh yeah, because Troy Bolton brought out her inner super slut apparently.

She lets out a low sigh and looks up at the doors leading into the dorms. "You don't have to walk me to the door. This wasn't a date."

Troy rolls his eyes as he reaches down and adjusts himself. "I don't know what the hell this was but my mother would kill me if I didn't walk you to that door."

That's it. The thought of Lucile Bolton scolding her son on post dry humping etiquette. That's all it takes for the laugh inside her to bubble up and escape. And once the dam breaks, the flood gates open. She's laughing hysterically, hunched over as she holds her insides together.

Troy chuckles along with her as they both sit in the parked car. And when laughter fades they sit there for another moment longer. Both of them seemingly okay with the silence, neither one feeling an urge to fill the quiet between them.

It takes a certain level of trust to sit next to someone and not feel the pressing urge to babble away. And she felt that comfort with Troy, even after the awkward dry humping situation. And damn it. If it isn't a reminder for how sweet and easy to love Troy Bolton is. Seriously this man was like her own personal brand of catnip.

Rolling her eyes she let out a sigh and motioned towards the dorm, "Oh what the hell, you wanna come up and order a pizza?"

Troy

Probably for the first time in his college career he's in a female's bedroom after midnight and no ones naked. It's strange. But kind of nice. There is some distance between them, she's sitting horizontally with her back against the wall and he's sitting vertically resting back on her large pile of pink pillows.

They don't talk much during the movie and he doesn't mind, in fact he's completely content to sit here with Gabriella toes wiggling beneath his thighs. Her toes are always cold, socks or no socks. She's always trying to bury them somewhere underneath him.

It's adorable.

She picks up her coke can and takes a deep swig. They already demolished the pizza they ordered and now they're working on a half eaten bag of Dortitos she had stuffed in her desk drawer.

"Why do you love Doritios so much?" he grimaces, poking at the bag. Not that Doritos weren't tasty, but he didn't eat them nearly as much as the tiny petite college girl looking back at him did. In fact, she ate more like a dude than he did. It was impressive.

"Don't diss my snack preferences," she says, bringing the bag up to her chest in a protective manner. "They meet my perfect snacking checklist."

"You have a checklist?" he deadpans. "For snacks."

"Cheesy, crunchy, available in party size, and goes great with everything." She ticks off the qualities with her Dorito dusted fingers and he rolls his eyes.

"You're such a weirdo."

"You hogged the pizza!" she declares. "I have to snack."

He lets out a laugh. "Yeah, I'll give you that, but to be fair you eat a lot more than most of the girls I know. The most they ever eat is half of a starter salad."

"That's because they need to stay rail-thin so guys like you will find them attractive."

"There's nothing attractive about a woman who's all skin and bones."

"Uh-huh, I'm sure you're so turned off by skinny women."

Troy rolls his eyes. "No. I'm just saying I prefer 'em curvy." His eyes dip a little and he checks out her rack as discreetly as possible. She'd showered and changed into an oversize t-shirt and pink matching sweatpants as if she was suiting up in unsexy armor to keep things PG between them.

Too late. He could still feel her hands pawing at him as she rode the bulge of his dick to orgasm. Every soft whimper and murmur of his name was now engraved in his memory. He just had to figure out exactly where they stood and what the hell was going on in that head of hers.

He watches as she sucks the cheese dust off her fingers, folding up the bag and putting it off to the side. She picks up her phone and taps at the screen a few times.

The thing is he knew women. And when they clam up like this? They're not just working one thought over in their brains. Nope, they're constructing a complicated web of scenarios and what ifs, each thread layering over another, thickening and twisting until suddenly they're mad about something that never even occurred to you.

When she looks up at him she lets out a sigh, "Taylor went over to your place to spend the night with Chad."

He nodded. "Do you want me to leave?"

She eyes him for a moment. "I'm not looking for a relationship." She says bluntly. "If we do this-"

"Do what?" He can't help but tease.

"This. Don't play dumb Troy. You're better than that."

He laughs and then waves a hand. "Fair enough, go on."

"If we do this," she repeats. "It's sex only."

"Like a friend with benefits?"

"You can't act like a boyfriend." She says with a frown. "No spending the night or cuddling or holding hands."

"Well I'm not gonna be an asshole about it either. Shit, Monty, my family freaking loves you. Your parents had us over for Easter last year. I'm not gonna treat you like some Jersey chaser."

She nods. They're quiet for a moment.

"Will you have sex with me?"

His eyes widened in shock, because that was not at all what he expected her to say. After the longest pause imaginable Troy pushes himself up so that he's sitting up straight. "Now?"

"Maybe not right now," she says, bringing her knees up to her chest. "If you're not in the mood."

He pulls his eyes away from her face glancing over at the otherside of the room where Taylor's things are. His gaze darts to the window. Because yes, he's on the third floor and actually contemplating jumping out the frickin window. That's how badly he wanted to avoid whatever was happening in this room right now.

The comedy was not lost on him. Normally the situations were reversed, he'd be the one laying down ground rules. He'd be the one giving the "only sex" speech. In his experience, no woman entered into a fling believing it was going to stay a fling. She might say otherwise, maybe even convince herself that she's cool with a no-strings-fast-sex, but deep down, she's hoping and praying it'll lead to something deeper.

He was not getting that vibe here. No. In this crazy world of opposites he was the chick. Finding himself in the exact same situation and feeling that small burst of ridiculous hope, despite the fact she was being extremely clear about her intentions.

His eyes returned to her and found her watching him closely. He doesn't look away, trying really hard to read the emotions on her face.

"Well?" she prompts. "It's a simple yes or no answer, Troy."

"Simple?" he burst out. "Are you kidding me? There's nothing simple about this." he runs a hand through his hair. "Why do you want to do this? With me? The guy you've been ducking and dodging for the last month."

She swallows, "I don't know, I just changed my mind."

"Why?"

"Because I did," she seems aggravated now. "What does it matter? Since when do you cross-examine a girl about her motives for wanting to get naked?"

"Since you're not the kind of girl who gets naked," he counters.

She clenches her teeth. "I'm not a virgin Troy."

He laughs, "That's not what I meant."

She whirls around. "Oh, so you meant because I'm just a great girl?"

Jesus. There was no smart answer in this conversation. His eyes travel back to the window for a split second and he feels the weight on the bed shift as she scrambles to get up. That spurs him into action and he grabs hold of her arm just as her left foot touches the floor. She yelps as he pulls her into his lap, her hands pushing against his chest.

"We're not having this conversation anymore," she argues as she pushes off him.

He plants his hands on her waist to trap her in place. "Yes, we are."

"No. We're not because apparently I'm not allowed to sleep with a guy I'm attracted to because it's not the kind of girl I am."

He shifts beneath her, equally aggravated. Then he takes a breath, exhales slowly and meets her eyes. "Okay, here's the thing, I believe you're attracted to me. I mean one, who isn't? And two, you moan like crazy whenever my tongue's in your mouth."

"Don't be an asshole."

"Three." he continued. "IF we do this, I want to be sure it's for the right reasons. That means, we're not making anyone jealous, we're not getting back at ex-boyfriends, and you're not trying to prove some stupid point about what kind of girl you are. If this happens, it's because we both want it too."

They stare each other down, anger and sexual frustration swirling in the air between them. They're breathing quick as his eyes fall to her chest rising and falling. Her breast right there in front of his face. His thumbs shift and in one caress their under her shirt rubbing at the skin above her waist band with a mind of their own.

She shivers from his touch settling into the straddling position. Her hair is still a little damp from her shower, the waves of it mostly dry and hanging over her shoulders. The fire in her eyes, softening but not gone. She's still pissed off but she's aroused. She shifts in his lap again, is a slow arch of her hips, rubbing her warm sex against his rock hard buldge.

"I'm not proving a point, I don't care about my ex, and the only people I want to make jealous are the ones walking past this room in the hallway."

Jesus.

He inhales sharply. When he opens his eyes again he settles them on her. Then he tilts his head in an unspoken question and there's only a brief pause before she reaches for the hem of her shirt and pulls it up above her head. Her hair falling in small bunches over her shoulders unleashing the smell of her shampoo with each shifting strand.

An appreciative smile spreads across his face, enjoying the sight of her bare breast being exposed to him. Monty has always been beautiful to him. She was always the perfect mixture of the girl next door and someone's kid sister that he found so endearing. But right now, straddling him in just her pink sweatpants, hair mused and topless, she was all sex kitten. His thumbs shifted against her hot skin and he gulps as he takes in this image of her that will be forever burned into his brain. Destin to play a starring role in the flashback of his life when his time is up.

"Need some direction?" she says in a challenge.

He growls in anticipation because he can't wait to get his mouth on her, but he can't decide what he wants to put in his mouth first. His mouth practically waters at the thought of sinking into her.

"Just considering my options, gorgeous." his voice comes out harsh.

"Why don't you kiss me, and we can go from there?"

Troy lets out a soft laugh as he meets her hot gaze. "That's the problem, I can't decide where I want to put my mouth first."

She shifts against him, causing both of them to inhale sharply. Then she taps one small finger against her lower lip. "Right here."

His smile grows as he leans up, his hands traveling around her and to her backside where he's now holding onto her tight around bottom. Her eyes darken and grow so full of lust that's almost hard to breathe. And then she grabs him, tired of waiting and tired of talking.

Their mouths slam together. And this time unlike before he's not thinking about the people in the parking lot, or way she's climbing over the console and shocking the ever loving shit out of him by crawling into his lap like a sexual devient. No this time his full attention is on her and his hands grabbing fist fulls of her ass while he enjoys her invasion of his mouth.

They work together removing their clothes, his shirt flies over to Taylor's side of the room and her sweatpants end up over by the door. It's like a bomb went off and it blew off their clothes all except for her little black thong. She lets out a moan as he pulls it to the side inserting three of his fingers deep inside her and she reaches out grabbing his head as he sucks one of her pointed nipples into his mouth.

"Shit." she murmurs.

"Like that, huh?"

"It's okay," she bites her lower lip and without warning he flexes his fingers inside her. "Fine. It feels good." she admits on a harsh breath.

He withdraws using one of his now wet fingles to lightly circle her clit. "Just good?"

She moans again, her hands braced on his shoulders. "It's fucking amazing."

"Oh Monty," he says quietly. "I think you just made a big mistake."

She grinding against his hand, her eyes shut as his fingers move inside her, against that little spot and feeling her tremble with each pass of his fingers.

"Why?" she whimpers softly.

"Because I'm about to ruin you for all other guys." he murmurs and leans forward, taking a nipple in his mouth and increasing the rhythm of his fingers. He's quickly rewarded when he feels her walls begin to clench around her fingers. Her head falls back and she stiffens. A low slur of oh gods and don't stops pouring out of her.

Once she's settled in his lap he lays back down admiring the view of her flushed cheeks and lust colored eyes. He's not prepared for the shock of arousal that floods him as he watches her begin to come down from her oragsm. Sex with her is much dirtier and hotter than he thought it would be. Then he smirks despite himself because she doesn't look like the kind of girl who would be into it this way, but isn't it always the quiet ones?

He likes it. Almost a little too much. He brings one of his damp fingers up to his lips and sucks the pad of it clean, enjoying the way her eyes flare in response mixed with the way her sex taste against his tounge.

"Come here and ride my face, gorgeous."

She only hesitates for a moment of uncertainty. It's there and gone before he could fully register it. Then she's crawling up his body, stopping with her sexy just above his mouth. "You're gonna wanna brace yourself," he rasps, getting more comfortable himself. "Because I'm gonna make you come again."

"God, your so fucking cocky," she says placing her hands on the wall in front of her.

"Don't even bother pretending you don't like it." he says before he latches his mouth onto her.

Gabriella

He doesn't just use his tongue. He uses his lips, his teeth to scrape across her hypersensitive clit. One hand clamped around her hip while he uses the other to finger her. And his tongue? He licks her in long sweeping strokes until she's practically sobbing and biting on her lower lip to muffle the sound.

He's right, she does need to brace herself. Her hands planted firmly on the wall in front of her when he swipes his tongue once, twice, and the world fades. He doesn't just bring her to the edge of that cliff, he throws her off of it and the fall is amazing.

While she's still shuddering from her third orgasm of the night, he lifts her off his face and down to his lap where his dick is, and she's a little dazed as she watches him slide the condom over his shaft.

"Ready?" he asks, positioning the head of his shaft at her entrance.

She doesn't know if she nods, whimpers or begs but whatever sounds comes out of her mouth he takes it as consent because he shoves upward with one swift motion until he's buried deep inside her.

"Fuck, you're so tight," he hisses through gritted teeth.

"Maybe you're too damn big," she sighs, wriggling around on top of him.

He grabs her hips to hold her still and shallowly pumps into her, "Don't move."

"Can't stop." The friction feels too damn good. If she thought his fingers and tongue were magic, his dick is supernatural. She could feel him everywhere.

She sits up on her knees as they dig into the mattress on either side of him as she rests her hands on his chest. The muscles flex beneath her palms, and she bites her lips as she takes in the sight of him.

He's as delicious to look at as he feels. For a moment she wonders how he tastes, but then she shifts her hips and he lets out another one of those hisses.

"Ride me Monty."

And she does, she slams down on him hard. A feral look crosses his face and then his hands are clamped against her ass as she rocks against him. His teeth are clenched and she feels the bite of his fingers on her ass, pushing her downward with each thrust. His eyes are glued to her as she grinds into him, watching her hungrily as she rides him hard and fast. They don't last long.

Inside of her his cock pulses, and then his fingers find her clit, stroking and teasing it until she's going off like a rocket, shaking so hard she can barely stay on top of him. Troy rises part way to clasp her to his chest, pounding into her so hard that her hair swayed in a sweat hot mess of bouncing girls.

He lets out a low grunt and he stiffens, slamming her down on top of him with a final jerk of his hips. Then they both fall into a heap on the bed.

"Holy shit," she mumbles.

"Agreed," he murmurs.

Troy

Holy shit was right. He leaned over the railing in an effort to search the lower floor of the library for a head full of brown curls.

This was insanity.

She'd kicked him out of her room four nights ago. His shoes tucked under his arm and barely catching his car keys as she tossed them in his direction haphazardly.

"That was fun." Her off hand remark still shocked him with awe and amusement. He felt used. He felt taken advantage of, and somehow he was eager for more.

Needed it. Like a sucker for punishment.

He made his way down the hallways checking the window of each private room. This was ridiculous. He texted her last night to ask about her plans this weekend and she'd left him on read.

On read. Him. On read.

As if he was some random hook up she'd brought home from the bar and not like they had plans to share a car ride back home for spring break. He checked his watch, his shift at the bookstore starting in ten minutes.

He pulled his phone out and tapped on the screen their text thread coming up on his screen.

Troy: What's on the agenda this weekend, gorgeous.

Then right there as if laughing at him like a cartoon villain. Read.

He started typing furiously. Then deleted it. This was strategic. This was some grade A dude shit and he was acting like a chick.

"Get a hold of yourself," he mumbled, shoving his phone into his back pocket. He wasn't going to text her. He was not going to wuss out and text her. He pulled his phone out of his pocket again checking the screen. Nothing.

This was not happening.

"Hey," Jason's hands came up, forcing him to look up from his phone and meet his gaze.

"Hey," Troy said, tucking the phone back into his pocket for a second time. "What's up?"

"Could you ask you the same question, you're up here stalking around like a lost freshman." Jason peered around the corner to see if anyone else was around. "Is someone after you?"

Troy arched a brow. "What?" he shook his head. "No. No one is after me. I was just looking for someone and my shift starts in five minutes."

"Did you find her?"

Troy stilled, "Who said it was a her?" Did people know about this? Had someone seen him being tossed out of her room that night and doing the walk of shame back to his car in his socks?

Jason laughed, "It's you," he teased. "It's always a her."

Troy let out a breath of relief. "I was actually looking for Monty," he said with a shrug, "Was hoping to talk to her about a study group session."

Jason nodded. When he didn't respond Troy let out a sigh, "Have you seen her around?"

"Oh yeah, Monty's in the dining hall with Taylor."

Troy muffled a grunt and plastered a smile on his face. "Thanks buddy, I'll see you later tonight!"

He was hustling across the walkway between the library and the dinning hall, grateful that the bookstore was in the basement of the building.

He entered the dining hall rushing through and spotting her mass of dark hair up in a messy bun. She was pushing her food around on a plate listening to something Taylor was talking about.

He fell into the chair across from her causing her eyes to widen at his appearance.

"Hi. Remember me?" He says reaching across the table for her phone and tapping the screen. "What do you know, it works." He said placing it back on the table beside her.

"Hi Troy," Taylor smiles knowingly and for a moment he has to rein in his smile. Good. At least he was a topic of gossip between them.

Gabriella sighs, "What do you want Troy?"

He looks over at Taylor in mock hurt and then back at Gabriella. "Haven't heard from you," he said with a shrug. "Thought I might check in."

She smirks. "Consider your check in complete." She says with a shrug. "Anything else?"

Not so fast. "I was hoping you weren't busy this weekend."

"She is." Taylor chimes in.

Gabriella's eyes narrow in Taylor's direction and Troy leans back in his chair watching the two women have an entire silent conversation in his presence. Women are terrifying. Together they wield more communication abilities than the damn secret service.

He leans forward giving the table top a soft knock. "Hi," he says once her brown eyes land on him. "What's it gonna take for you to text me back gorgeous?"

There's a faint tint on her cheeks as she looks over at Taylor then back at him.

"I'll text you tonight," she says softly with a smirk.

Troy nods. Awesome. This is good. He nods over to Taylor and then pushes up from the table. "Have good evening girls."

"You too Troy!" Taylor sings songs after him.

Gabriella

Her eyes watched a retreating Troy in disbelief.

"You thought he was encourageable before?" Taylor says with a smirk. "Now the man is down right obsessed."

Gabriella brings a hand over her face. "I feel awful!"

"Why?" Taylor makes a face as she lifts her soda up to her lips.

"Because it's only been a month since I declared my no boyfriend freedom and at the first opportunity I jumped into his lap like a slut."

"You're not a slut." Taylor reminds her. "You were horny and you scratched an itch. Guys do it all the time." Taylor shakes her head. "This isn't the dark ages and no one's gonna waste the time sowing little as into your clothing because you had a one night stand."

"I didn't say I was an adulterer," Gabriella says with an eye roll. "I'm just not ready to be with anyone yet."

She had a lot of mixed feelings about sleeping with Troy. On the one hand, it was hands down the best sex she had ever had. On the other hand, she could easily see herself getting attached and then devastated whenever he changed his mind about being the boyfriend kind of guy.

Troy didn't do relationships. He didn't have steady girlfriends. He was best known as the campus flirt. No relationships. Not since her at least. Not till now it seemed.

It was hard to avoid Troy normally, even harder now that he seemed laser focused on her. He never used to seek her out before. Then again he hadn't been trying to date her before.

The man was persistent. And the way he called her gorgeous. He hadn't done that in years. She remembered he used to call her that whenever they were affectionate, usually when they were sprawled out on a couch with his hand up her shirt.

They came a long way from being those inexperienced teenagers. Of course, they had done their share of heavy petting and fooling around but they never made it all the way. She was a virgin back then.

A warm tingle began in her lower region, and she squeezes her thighs together in an effort to bring some relief. They were definitely not virgins anymore. Things were different, he was different, the way he questioned her about her intentions. The fact that they could talk like they had, honest and open. She never felt like that before.

And damn it, if a part of her hadn't thought he was a sweetheart. A sweetheart who really knew how fuck. Maddie had been right. Troy had indeed proven her athlete theory. Her sex clenched at the memory of what it felt like to ride his tongue. It throbbed at the way he took control of her body and commanded her to orgasm again and again.

Alarm bells whirled in her head, alerting her of her stupidity. What was she doing? She drops her head to the table.

"Look," Taylor said, placing a hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture. "Bunnies have lots of sex and we still think they're cute and pure. So why do we treat ourselves any differently?"

"This whole situation is hopeless."

"Or it's just two consenting parties enjoying a mutual attraction."

Her eyes lifted to Taylor. "What are you trying to say?"

"Gabi, hope is healthy. Even if you prepare yourself for the worst in life, it will never make the fall hurt less." She says, reaching a hand out to comfort her. "This thing with Troy could be bad but it could also be really good. Enjoy the now and stop worrying about the later."

That night she opened the text tread between her and Troy.

Troy: What's on the agenda this weekend, gorgeous.

Her eyes reread his text for the millionth time. She let out a sigh and rolled over onto her stomach tapping the replay box.

Gabriella: Taylor thinks we should go to the anything but clothes party on Saturday night. But I don't know. I think I'm partied out.

She hits send and flops back onto her back. A sigh escapes her lips as she places the phone down beside her. Taylor isn't home yet, and the room is empty. She adjusts her head on the pillow in an effort to make herself more comfortable.

Then her phone chimes.

Troy: You have only been to two parties. Maybe I should escort you to this one. You could makeshift something out of a Doritos bag.

A laugh escapes her.

Gabriella: That's actually genius.

Troy: Going out with me IS genius.

God help her, she's smiling. UGH. Why was he so eager to jump into bed with her again. The guy has the attention span of a fruit fly, and the affection-giving habits of a puppy, offering his sexual devotion to whoever happened to be holding the treat. Aka a vagina.

Gabriella: I meant the Doritos idea. Still not sold on the party scene.

Troy: So why'd you go quiet on me Monty?

Gabriella groans. She knew he was going to ask her about this.

Gabriella: I told you not to act like a boyfriend.

Troy: Yeah and I told you we're also friends, remember? We even shook on it.

The memory of what took place after that handshake made her smile.

Gabriella: I remember.

Troy: So, what should I wear to the party? Maybe something with easy access, leave the possibility of some naughty behavior?

Gabriella: That was a one night only event. We shouldn't do it again.

Troy: Don't bullshit a bullshiter Monty. You can't seriously believe we can shove that blissful experience back in the box.

Gabriella: Have you considered seeing a psychiatrist about your delusions?

Troy: You know you want to wake up in my bed and wrapped up in these arms.

Gabriella: Not happening.

There was a knock on her door and she shifted up onto her elbows. Her eyes shifted down at her phone and then back at the door. He wouldn't?

Would he?

"Gabi," the voice on the other side of the door wasn't Troys. Disappointment settled inside her as she got out of bed and made her way to the door.

When she pulled the door open she found a hazy looking Josh leaning against the door frame. Had he been drinking? It was a Tuesday night.

"Hi." He smiled wide at the sight of her. The stench of alcohol on his breath.

She didn't move from the doorway or indicate that he was welcome inside. She crossed her arms and stared at him with annoyance.

"What do you want Josh?"

"I want you baby." He said with a pouty face. "I miss you."

"You're drunk."

He chuckled. "Do you remember that night when we went down to the beach in the middle of the night."

Quickly looking up and down the hallway, she searched for bystanders to the absolute shit show happening in her doorway.

"Remember when I went down on you in front of the ocean baby." He said in a low voice.

She remembered it, she remembered having to fake her orgasm because he'd been so desperate to please her at the time. Having sex of any kind in public was not her thing.

Well it wasn't her thing before she orgasmed in the front seat of Troy's car.

"Josh, I think you should go."

"No," he says grimly. Clearly upset. "I messed up and I wasn't thinking about the bigger picture okay."

Clearly the single life wasn't agreeing with Josh. Gabriella reached for her door, not really sure if she should just close it. She should call someone, maybe one of his friends.

"Can I come in?"

Her hold on the door tightens. "That's not a good idea Josh."

His frown deepens. "Why not? You got someone in there with you? Is it Troy? I heard he's been sniffing around lately."

Seriously.

"Josh it's really none of your business anymore remember?"

"Did you sleep with him?" he asks, his voice echoing in the hallway.

Her eyes widened slightly as her hand grips the door tighter. "Lower your voice."

"I knew it!" Josh says lifting a finger and pointing it at her. "I knew you weren't just friends. Jesus Gabi, that was such bullshit."

"I really think you need to go."

"Did you cheat on me? Is that why you were never in the mood? Because you were too busy giving it to him and being a little slut?"

The word is like a torpedo to the gut and she narrows her eyes at him in disbelief. "I never cheated on you. Nothing happened until after we were over." Gabriella clarified as she took a step back into the room. "You need to leave Josh."

"How long did it take for him to get into your pants?"

"That's not the-"

"How long!" He shouts, his hand slapping the wall beside her head in a loud emphasis of the question making her jump.

"Hey," Taylor's voice shouts from behind Josh and Gabriella lets out a breath she's been holding since the jump. "What the hell is going on?"

Neither one of them speaks. Frankly, Gabriella's absolutely mortified by the entire situation. Hoping a black hole would open up beneath her and swallow her up.

Josh's eyes are still on her, his silence radiating anger and disgust. As if she was worthless and dirty. As if the sight of her now almost made him sick.

"Did you even wipe my fucking cum off before you let him inside you."

"That's enough." Taylor comes to Gabriella's side. "You need to leave." She says to Josh, glaring at him angrily. "Now."

"Yeah, I bet I do" Josh says with a sneer, "wouldn't want to hold up the fucking line."

"Fuck you!" Gabriella says feeling the sting of tears sliding down her cheeks. Why is she crying? She shouldn't be giving this man anymore of her tears.

"Been there, done that,'' Josh lets out a sickening laugh. "Fucking desease ridden whore."

"Hey," Chad says thunderously. "That's enough."

"Fuck you Danforth!" Josh turns away from Gabriella and Taylor. "And tell your friend he's a piece of shit."

"Take it easy Josh." Chad warns.

But the damage has already been done. The words are already staining her insides with shame, and embarrassment.

"I was just leaving anyway." Josh walks past Chad bumping into his right shoulder on the way out.

No one moves for a minute as they listen to the sound of the doors below slamming open and shut behind Josh.

"You girls okay?" Chad asks quietly, his eyes on Gabriella. The way he looks at her is soft as he searches her face. As if he hadn't just heard the worst things said about her flying out Josh's mouth. As if he hadn't been declaring her whore status to the entire dorm a few moments ago.

Even though she doesn't feel it, she nods. Then he nods too.

"I'm gonna go make sure he actually leaves."

"Thanks babe," Taylor says, wrapping an arm around Gabriella.

Chad turns to head back downstairs.

"You, okay?" Taylor says as they both retreat into their bedroom sitting on Gabriella's bed side by side.

"Yeah," the word barely comes out so she takes a moment to clear her throat. "Yeah, just embarrassed you had to see that."

"You have nothing to be embarrassed about. That man embarrassed himself. Don't think for one second that anything he said was true." Taylor assured her. "The same men who attempt to devalue women are the same ones who seek validation by chasing them."

Gabriella nods despite the fact that her insides feel battered and bruised. Like each insult from his lifts landed a blow to their directed target. She looks down at her phone where it rests on the bed. Forgotten. She picks up the phone bringing it up and noting the unread message from Troy.

Troy: Come over and watch movies with me. I miss you.

Troy

He was asleep when he felt the bed dip behind him. His eyes spring open and he turns around to find Gabriella scooting into the bed beside him. His eyes glance at the clock on his nightstand.

It's almost one in the morning.

"Hey," he says a little confused, half convinced that he's dreaming. Then again if this was a dream she would be naked. He lifts the blanket to look down at her fully clothed body.

No luck there.

"Sorry to wake you up." She mumbled. "I came over with Chad and Taylor." Her body settles into the mattress beside him. The smell of her hair mingled with his senses.

He leans back a little to get a good look at her face. The only available light coming from his blue digital clock light. It takes a moment for his eyes to adjust. When he's able to make out her features, he shifts instantly knowing that the usual sparkle in her eyes isn't there like it should be. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just had a run in with Josh tonight." She says with a sigh, "He showed up at the dorm unannounced and drunk."

Troy pushes himself up a bit on his elbow. Thoughts race through his mind and he's already mentally searching the room for his keys. His eyes narrowed in her direction. "Did he try to pull something?"

Gabriella's hand comes up to his arm, motioning for him to lay back down. "No, Chad took care of it already."

At that he relaxes. Then he brings his arm up and around her, scooping her up against his body. She's soft and warm, small enough to wrap around his body and fit in the nook of his side. Like she was made for it.

How long had she fit there? How much time had he wasted not holding her? God, Taylor had been right. He was going to buy that girl a gift card.

"Not that I would ever complain," he begins, bringing another hand up to her cheek and lightly caressing it. "But why are you sneaking into my bed in the middle of the night?"

When she doesn't answer him he lets out a low chuckle. "Monty? Is this your version of a booty call?"

She groans.

And the noise of it makes him laugh harder. "Monty," he whispers, "ask me nicely and I won't punish you with a lesson in begging."

"Josh called me a slut."

Troy paused. Well, shit.

That's not exactly what he was hoping to have whispered in his ear. He shifts into a sitting up position in his bed and reaches over to turn on the lamp from the nightstand.

Once the light fills the room, he turns back to face her. She was watching him in stubborn irritation. "What happened?" He asked softly.

"You know, for someone who wouldn't be caught dead in a relationship you act an awful lot like a boyfriend."

At that, he makes a face. "Pot, meet kettle."

She groans again and pushes herself up, "This was a bad idea." She says pulling back the covers. Troy reaches forward, twisting himself and tugging her underneath him.

"Will you stop doing that," he says pointedly.

"Troy," She shifts beneath him, her back arching slightly. "Get off me."

"Not until you talk to me," Troy says softly. "What happened?"

She looks at him for a moment and a nervous flutter shifts through him because out of all those abilities he thought he had to read this girl? None of them are cluing him in right now.

"He found out we slept together." She admits quietly.

"How?" Troy says a little confused, "Better yet why does that matter, you guys aren't together anymore. Unless that's something you wanted?" he slows at the last part, not sure he can handle her answer.

"I don't. And it doesn't matter," she says with a shrug, "it's just that he was yelling and name calling and just so…cruel." She bites her lower lip. "Lately, I've just been struggling with this idea about what kind of girl I am and I know that I'm not a slut. Taylor's been lecturing me all night about slut shaming and I get it. Sex is sex, everyone does it. And it's not like we fell into bed together the very next day and-"

Anger makes him stiffen.

Oh, hell no.

Troy shifts and pushes himself up so that he's sitting back on his knees. His eyes focus on her brown ones. "Gabriella," he says quietly. "Did you think, even for one second, that whatever Josh said was true?"

There's a shine to her eyes now, and her features contort a little. She moves to cover her face and Troy's heart breaks. Josh should be thanking God right now he hadn't been the one to handle things tonight. He shifts again, this time hoisting her up against him, so her face is buried in his chest. She shutters a shaky breath, and he brings a hand up to gently rub her back.

"Monty," he softens his voice to disguise the rage inside him. "Monty, look at me."

Slowly she raises her eyes to his.

"I don't give a shit what Josh says or thinks, you didn't do anything to deserve his verbal attack, understand?" he brings his hand to her cheek gently rubbing the damp skin. "There is nothing wrong with you. You're the perfect kind of girl. You hear me? You're smart, you're stubborn about what you believe in, you're independent even though you think you're not. You don't need people to define you because you already know what kind of girl you are. You're the kind of girl who cares about her friends, who works hard and is crushing it at this college student thing. There is nothing wrong with you. You are perfect. Absolutely, freaking perfect."

She wraps her arms around him, their bodies mashed together and still needing more. And he didn't care, because he would give her anything she wanted, all of him if she wanted.

The next morning when he opens his eyes, blinking back the cobwebs of his sleep fog brain he shifts under the weight of someone else. His body feels warmer than usual, and he becomes aware of the smell from her shampoo. Then something tickles the bottom of his chin, something hard and soft at the same time.

Yup, Gabriella's head is nestled in the crook of his neck, her slender arm draped across her stomach, a warm leg hooked on his thigh and a soft breast resting on his left pec.

This is nice, waking up and finding Gabriella snuggled against him, he grows more alert, alert enough to remember last night. The flooding memories of tears, reassurances and lots of cuddling.

He glances at his clock, the alarm due to go off in five minutes. He always wakes up ahead of the alarm, as if his body knows it's time to get up, but he sets it as a precaution anyway. It's seven in the morning, he only managed about 6 good hours of sleep last night, but he feels oddly rested. At peace. Like having her here, safe and in his arms is the only way his body could ever be so relaxed.

"Stop grinning."

He chuckles. "How do you know I'm grinning?"

She shifts her hand coming up to feel his face. Her fingers grab his jaw and then touch his lips. She lets out a sigh.

"You always grin like an idiot when you get your way."

"Trust me Monty, if I was getting my way, you would be wearing a lot less."

She pushes herself up from his chest coming to a sitting position. She's still wearing her now wrinkled t-shirt and jeans. Her hair is a bit disheveled, nothing too crazy. The color has returned to her face, even though her eyes are still a little puffy from last night.

So help him if he runs into Josh anytime soon.

"Please tell me there's a coffee machine in this house," she says quietly.

Troy smirks. A bit crabby in the morning, but he'll keep her. "There are other ways I can make your morning more enjoyable." He shifts so that he is pushed up on his elbows, leaning in to hoover by her lips.

Her finger instantly raises up and presses against his lips. "No, I have morning breath."

"Fine, counteroffer," he pushes himself up and shifts to her neck, then her collarbone, his hands undoing the button of her jeans enjoying the way she shifts under his touch. She doesn't stop him, instead her hands roam over his shoulders. "Lay back and let me make you come with my fingers."

She moans just as his fingers brush over her damp panties. When he finds her center, she arches toward him with a whimper. "Do it."

And he does, he manages to make her morning really nice, he makes it so good she manages to come twice before someone knocks on his bedroom door asking for a ride to class. Damn roommates. Damn classes.

Gabriella

It happened.

Somehow, some way. She was officially having casual sex with Troy Bolton. Sometimes he would come over to her dorm with snacks and they would lay in bed watching movies until he began kissing that spot on her neck. Sometimes she'd be waiting for him in his room after practice enjoying the way he seemed to relax into her after such a grueling few hours of drills and weights. Those nights were her favorite because the sex between them was slow and lazy.

But really everything about the last two weeks were wonderful and amazing. Scary good even. It was one big blur of laughter and cuddling and hot sex, intermingled with real life events like classes and studying, shifts at the dinner and basketball games. They seemed to forge this connection that caught her by surprise.

And the man had a kink for oral sex. Not that she minded entirely. He was very skilled with his tongue.

He had found her in the library last night working diligently on a paper. The same throb formed behind her eyes as she tried desperately to formulate a good conclusion to her 15-page paper. He had lingered for a moment, waiting until she'd typed her last sentence before placing a little touch and kiss along her arm. Stealing her attention and distracting her until he finally pulled her up out of her chair and led her in between the last row of stacks.

It was as if he casted a spell on her senses and she just like that, nothing else but that moment with him mattered. She wasn't thinking about her paper, her classes, her last final in the morning or packing for the trip back home for spring break. He made all the noise inside her head turn off and then he dropped to his knees, pushed up her peasant skirt and did wonderful things with his tongue and fingers.

Her stomach fluttered with excitement, and she glanced back at her old vanity covered in East High memories. Her eyes shifted from her flushed cheeks to all the ribbons and taped photos. So many memories from a lifetime ago.

She was back home. She let her bag fall from her shoulder and hit the bed with a soft thud. The pink walls of her childhood bedroom encasing her in old comfort.

Curiosity nagged at her and she made her way into the closet, reaching up and pulling out an old shoe box. It was her keepsakes from high school. A box filled with old passed notes, dance tickets, movie stubs and a few pictures. She plucked a photo strip out from the bottom.

A naive version of their past selves looking back at her. The way Troy smiled at her then compared to the way he smiled now made her lips pull. This man was so familiar to her and yet so different.

He always seemed so certain, meanwhile she was still trying to put together her own feelings. Her trust. She let her thumb caress the photo. Looking down at the box she winced at another photo looking back up at her. Her eyes roamed Mark Telamon's face. His arms wrapped around her. Of all her boyfriend's she'd been with Troy the shortest. He was her first relationship and it had crashed and burned eight months after she'd agreed to go out with him.

Eight months.

That's how long it took for Troy to get bored.

She dated Mark for a year and half after Troy then she dated Josh for two years after Mark. She sighed, two weeks. Whatever this thing was with Troy it was two weeks in and she was trying like hell not to get attached this time. Because history repeated, they would end up right back in this box as a memory. And this time she wasn't sure if she would bounce back so well. Hell, they might be past the point of even returning to a decent friendship.

With a sigh she placed the photo back inside the box and closed the lid just as there was a knock on the door. She turned to find her mother standing in the doorway.

"Look at you," her mother beamed. "You need to stop growing."

Gabriella let out a laugh, putting the shoe box down on her dresser and making her way over to her mother. Enjoying the feel of her mother's arms wrapping around her.

"How do you feel? Did you get through all your finals? No more headaches? Have you been drinking water?"

Her mother pulled away, her hands cupping Gabriella's face and examining her in her doctor-like way.

"I feel fine mom, really." She assured her mother knowing the truth about her uncertainty these days wasn't related to her health.

Her mother shook her head as she dropped her hands. "Have you talked to Josh? Has he apologized for the other night?"

Gabriella shook her head. "I think that door is officially shut."

She told her mother the PG version of her break up with Josh, his reasons and then his drunken reappearance. She left out the mortifying and humiliating parts, her mother had told her that Josh would come around eventually.

Not likely.

"How was the drive, did you give Troy the gas money we sent you? How's he doing these days?"

Yeah. She hadn't told her mother about the new developments between her and Troy either. She made such a huge deal about taking time to be alone and figure things out that she felt like it was best to not mention the casual sex parts of her life.

"He's good, I gave him the money," which he promptly turned down. "And the team won the last three games, Troy seemed happy about that."

"Good, I'm happy he's doing well." Her mother crossed her arms and let out a sigh. "I remember when you used to hang out at the kitchen table and do your homework together. You guys were babies back then."

"Mom," she said quietly. "Please don't get weird."

Her mother laughed and brought a hand up to her face to wipe an invisible tear away.

"Are you hungry? Your father's still at work but we can eat lunch. Maybe talk about boys? Any cute boys I should know about?"

Her cheeks flame as she thinks about Troy. "Mom, did you date a lot in college?"

Her mother smiled, "Not really. I went out occasionally, when I met your father I was just starting in my residency."

Gabriella smiled, she'd heard the story many times of her mother and fathers quirky love story. He was a nurse; she was starting her residency. He asked her out to lunch and they shared the last pudding cup.

Was Troy the kind of guy who shared the last pudding cup?

"So, there is a boy." Her mother said as they came into the kitchen. "It's written all over your face."

"There might be," Gabriella admitted as she opened the refrigerator and took out two cans of soda. "Troy asked me out."

Her mother inhaled sharply before opening the cabinets and pulling out a container of cookies. "What did you say?"

"No." Gabriella smiled as her mother put the cookie tin between them. It was her mother's secret weapon. They used to power through a whole cookie tin in one girl talk session. Something about cookies from this tin were always laced with truth serum.

"What did he say?"

Gabriella chuckled as she picked up a cookie. "He said we could be friends if that's what I wanted."

"I see," there was a pause as her mother smiled knowingly. "So, are you friends?"

"Yes."

"Just friends?"

"I don't know if I have the mental capacity for another relationship. Then again, maybe I do." She paused taking a bite out of the cookie. Her mother watched her curiously as she chewed. Then she picked up a cookie of her own.

"So then…" she paused waiting for Gabriella to continue and when she didn't, she finished her thought. "Just friends."

Gabriella let out a groan. "It's difficult to tell with Troy." Gabriella picked up another cookie. God, what was it about a homemade chocolate chip cookie? "I think we've been dating for the last two weeks but we've also been friends for the last five years. In a situation like that are you even dating?"

Her mother made a face. "So, then what is happening?"

"I don't know," Gabriella said with a frown.

"What do you want to happen?" Her mother asked more carefully.

"I feel absolutely insane."

Her mother laughed. "That speaks volumes." She shook her head and gently rubbed Gabriella's shoulders. "Love is insanity. It's the one thing that could be labeled as poison and we'd drink it anyways."

Gabriella frowned. "That's not helpful."

"I can't help you with this one kiddo. Matters of the heart are something you have to sort out on your own."

Troy

"Did you bring back a shirt for me?" Annabel, the oldest female Bolton, asked. She starts university in fall and had been begging him for a shirt to wear for her senior field day.

And he forgot.

Maybe Gabriella had one she could borrow? When he dropped her off earlier today she'd been wearing a Deadpool t-shirt and jeans, her hair braided in two pigtails. She had a duffel bag, didn't she? Yes, she had. He'd carried it to the door.

He immediately remembered the way her shirt shifted up revealing the pink string of her thong when she took the bag back.

"Earth to Troy." Annabel waved a hand in front of his face.

Shit.

"No." Troy said he emptied his duffel bag into his parents washing machine. "You can wear one of mine. Or I can ask if Monty has one?"

Cynthia, the youngest Bolton fresh out of middle school, came up on his left. "Troy, can we play Smash Brothers?"

"Sure, in a minute."

"Troy?" His mother called from the kitchen. "Troy are you home?"

Sweet Jesus. He'd been home for all of fifteen minutes. He added soap to the washer and called out to his mom. "Just putting stuff to wash, be right there."

"Hey Troy," Rachel the middle female Bolton, came into the small laundry room which was getting smaller by the minute. "Did Annabel tell you about her boyfriend?"

"He is not my boyfriend!"

"Is too. You guys were practically eating each other's faces last night on the porch."

Troy raised a brow as he looked over at Annabel who looked panicked. "You spied on us!"

"We have a ring doorbell you idiot!" Rachel said, pulling out her phone. "I'm gonna make it a TikTok!"

"You wouldn't!"

Cynthia rolled her eyes at her sisters, "I'll be in the living room. Bring snacks."

Troy took a breath as Rachel and Annabel went into a screaming match on either side of him. He pressed the start button on the washer and backed out of the room.

He walked into the kitchen where his mother was unpacking some groceries. "Making lasagna tonight, your favorite."

He smiled and came over to his mother's side placing a kiss on her cheek and wrapping his arms around her. "I completely understand that you wanted me to have siblings, but did you have to give me three."

His mother laughed. "They missed you."

"Mom! Rachel's threatening to make my life into a TikTok series." Annabel's high pitch scream shouted from the laundry room.

"It could go viral and jumpstart my career as a documentary filmmaker!"

His mother sighed. "Rachel, stop spying on your sister. Annabel, don't make out with Andrew in front of the ring camera!"

"Andrew?" Troy raised a brow as he moved to the pantry in search of snacks.

"Football player." His mother winced. "Your father is not a fan."

"Which means it must be love," Troy said, grabbing a bag of cheesy puffs.

"Isn't it always?" His mother laughed.

Troy nodded and headed out to the living. He fell onto the couch beside Cynthia. Opening the bag of cheesy puffs and placing it between them. "What about you? Any boyfriends?"

"No. I have a girlfriend." She says reaching for a cheesy puff. "Her name is Samantha."

Troy's eyes widened and then he nodded. "Sweet." He held up his hand for a fist bump and then reached for a controller.

He played with Cynthia for an hour or two, until his mom asked him to take out the trash. Once the bag was in the trash can he took advantage of his free moment. He pulled out his phone and checked his messages.

Troy: I miss you. How's life as an only child?

He waited a minute then smiled when the dots appeared.

Gabriella: Boring. Dad got home a little bit ago. We're watching The Avengers. How's life with three sisters?

Troy: Crazy loud. Sometimes I forget how draining it is. Don't get me wrong, I love them all. Just sometimes.

Gabriella: You can love them and find them crazy. I think that's normal for siblings.

Troy: Cynthia has a girlfriend. Her name is Samantha. Annabel's dating a football player named Andrew. Hey, do you have a university shirt Annabel can wear on field day?

Gabriella: Wow. A football player? betrayal much?

Troy: Right! it's gets worse. The guy doesn't even follow basketball.

Gabriella: Wow.

Troy: Disappointed.

Gabriella: I have a shirt for Annabel.

Troy: Great.

Troy: Speaking of shirts, What are you wearing?

Gabriella: No.

Troy let out a snort.

Troy: No, what?

Gabriella: I'm sitting on the couch with my dad watching a movie. We're not having phone sex.

Troy smirked at that.

Troy: What are your plans tomorrow?

Gabriella: We're not having sex tomorrow either.

Troy: Get your mind out of the gutter. I'm inviting you to come over and play Smash Brothers with me and Cynthia.

Gabriella: Why?

Troy: Why not? We used to play it all the time.

Gabriella: Aren't you sick of me?

Troy: Are you sick of me?

He bit down on his bottom lip. Not sure he wanted to know her answer on this.

Gabriella: I'll come over after my mom leaves for work.

Troy: And to answer the question, I don't think it's possible for me to get enough of you.

"Troy," Rachel's voice sounded as she opened the back door. "Mom wants to know if you're still alive."

"Coming," he said, making his way back to the house and shoving his phone into his pocket.

"Who were you sexting with?" Rachel says with a raised brow.

Troy narrows his eyes at her. "I wasn't sexting anyone. Stop being so nosey."

Rachel gauked and leaned back against the open door in mock hurt. "I am not nosey, I care about this family."

"Do you?" Troy smirked and then pointed a finger in her direction. "Then be nicer to Annabel."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Why? Did the perfect princess complain to you too?"

Troy huffed. "No, be nicer because one day you're gonna want to sneak out of the house and you're going to need her to lie for you."

Rachel pushed off the door. "I don't do stuff like that."

Troy shook his head, "We all do stuff like that." Troy patted her shoulder and turned to enter the house.

Gabriella

She knocked on the door, waiting for a moment before the sound of Troy's muffled voice became audible.

"We have the same mom you dork!" Troy shouted over his shoulder as he pulled the door open. A voice from inside called him an asshat and he turned towards her with a smile. "Hey Monty. How's my favorite girl?"

She laughed, "Are you ready to get your ass handed to you?"

"By you? Always." He laughed letting her inside.

She came into the living room greeted by three sandy blond beautiful blue eyed faces turned towards her with smiles.

"Monty," Annabel exclaimed, "Troy said you had a shirt."

Gabriella nodded, reaching into her bag and pulling out the t-shirt as requested. Annabel jumped up and down before lurching forward and wrapping her arms around her in a hug. "Thanks Monty."

She'd remembered when Annabel started school as a freshman. They were seniors and Troy didn't really get it. He meant well but after showing her where the bathrooms and lunchroom where he considered his brotherly duties fulfilled.

One look at a lost Annabel and she took her under her wing, showing her the ropes and introducing her to other classmen. And like her brother Annabel quickly became another friendly popular face among her peers. The Bolton charm ran in the family.

"No problem," Gabriella said, "you can keep that one."

"You're the best." Annabel smiled, "I'm gonna call Tracy, she is going to be so excited her brother actually remembered her shirt."

Troy entered the room, a deep sigh escaping his lips. "Give me a break Anna."

Annabel laughed and made her way upstairs with her phone already in her hand as she tapped away on the screen. She missed Annabel and was excited she'd be starting university in the fall. Couldn't wait to see how Troy would handle his little sister in a college environment.

"I call Monty!" Cynthia jumped up from the couch catching her attention.

Gabriella let's out a laugh and makes her way to the couch, snatching up a controller along the way. Already hitting buttons as she goes through character selection. The next three hours of gameplay between them are filled with talk trash and cheering whenever Troy's character meets an untimely demise.

"Not happening," Troy says, tightening his hold on the control, like that would help.

An easy laugh left her lips. As she pressed buttons to thwart his attack. For the first time since she began whatever this was between them her nerves settled. "This is happening." She clicked away at buttons doing her best to chase his character.

Rachel and Cythina cheered her on. She always got along with Troy's sisters since they all seemed to have the same goal in making Troy's life insufferable.

"Oh come on," Troy shouted. "Who's side are you on Rachel?"

"The winning side," she declared proudly.

Troy gasped as he mocked a painfilled expression then he leaned closer to Gabriella, his arm knocking her arm enough to make her fumble with her controller until it crashed to the floor.

"Yes!" he bolted upright, seizing the opportunity to kill her character.

Her mouth popped open into the shape of an O as she watched the cold-blooded kill.

Troy raised his arms in victory!

"Cheaters never prosper!" Cynthia said as she hurtled towards him, ready to shove him to the ground.

Gabriella laughed as the two struggled for a bit. Cynthia, now on top of him and raging a tickle war. Troy bucked and kicked out, clearly not using all his force to stop the attack. But taking his earned punishment for cheating.

"This is insane, seriously this is not fair." Troy complained, once the two began to separate. "I call for a time out. Monty, wanna help me get some snacks and drinks," he said, puffing a little as he pushed himself up from the floor.

She nodded, getting up from the couch as Rachel fell into her spot and reaching out hand to help her sister off the floor. The two reached for their controllers already going into another game.

She followed Troy into the kitchen, a laugh still on her lips when he tugged her to him and into the panty. He guided her backwards until she was pressed against the shelves.

"Troy," she warned quietly.

"One kiss," he smiled, shifting closer to her and cupping her face. "I need my Monty fix."

Before she could even protest it, she was already sighing with delight against him as he leaned in and pressed his lips against hers.

God, he was addictive. His mouth was warm, his lips firm as he kissed her. Gently at first. A soft sensual tease that made her whimper. He licked her bottom lip, nipped lightly at it before the tip of his tongue touched the seam of her lips. He tasted like candy and for some reason that made her melt into him even more.

When his tongue slid into her mouth he let out a raspy groan that vibrated through her and settled in her core. Their tongues met and he made another low husky sound.

Then pulled away from her, his eyes watching her intently. "I love the way you look after my kiss."

She inhales slowly, attempting to get her breathing under control. "Bet you say that to all the girls."

His eyes lift to hers and he smirks. "I know you're into me, Monty. And I'm definitely into you. Would it really be so bad if we made this thing official?"

She gulps. He was putting her on the spot. She was still too confused to talk about this, too confused about everything to make a decision like this. She never made decisions like this; she wasn't an impulsive person. Until Troy was involved. Whenever she was with him, she seemed to be on a rollercoaster.

So yes, while many women would be breaking out into cartwheels at the thought of making things "official" with Troy Bolton, she needed to take a minute. She hadn't expected to like him this much, hadn't expected the sex with him to be so wonderful or even be in a position again where this man might be her boyfriend.

"I don't know where this is going," she said finally. "At first, I didn't want to think about you and me in terms of dating. I don't even know what this is. I just wanted to…" she could feel the blush on her cheeks. "I just wanted to explore our attraction."

The hurt in his eyes flashed briefly and he dropped his hands from around her, putting plenty of space between them. "You don't know what this is or where it could go?"

"Troy," she lets out a sigh. "I want to trust you but-"

"Jesus Gabriella," he cuts her off with a grunt. "You don't trust me." He lets out a shaky breath, his shoulder sagging.

"We were together for eight months before you got bored and took off."

"I didn't get bored," he countered. "You scared the living shit of me."

"Excuse me?" Gabriella stood up straighter. "I scared you."

"Have you met us?" Troy motioned between them. "Even when we're trying to be easy going, we're complicated."

Gabriella lifted her shoulders in confusion. "So you bail me because you're scared and now I'm just supposed to take your word that this time it's different?"

Troy's jaw flexed. "If you honestly don't know if you can trust me, then why on earth are we wasting our time. I know exactly what this is. I-"he stops so abruptly she waivers for a moment.

"You what?" She whispers.

"I," he stops again. His blue eyes darken. "You know what? Forget it. I guess you're right. This was all about exploring the attraction. You were very clear about that." He seems increasingly bitter as he reaches for a bag of chips and backs out of the pantry.

She follows him out into the kitchen, watching as he places an empty tray on the countertop and then turns towards the fridge.

"I told you that I needed to take some time to myself after Josh." She says quietly.

"Great." He says with a nod as he places four cans of soda on the tray. "Got it."

"This isn't fair, I didn't think you were serious about any of this." She says with a frown. "You're the one who says he doesn't do relationships."

"Oh, screw you." He says sharply, catching her off guard. "You knew exactly how I felt. You knew it and went ahead and jumped into my lap anyway. And that's on me. As much as your entire attitude about this pisses me off, I let this happen. But you knew the score from the start."

"Troy." She tried with a frown. "I thought-"

When she didn't finish, he went about filling the tray with snacks from the fridge. "There is no one else for me. I never thought I wanted to revisit this relationship either, then there you were, pulling me out of my bed to watch movies together."

"Troy,"

He didn't stop, keeping his voice low. "I've never been the guy who wanted to settle down before, because I've always felt restless and unsettled. Never thought about it, until you were laying in my arms that morning and for the first time and I felt rested. You make me feel like I'm home and I've never felt that way with anyone else. I know it with my whole heart. I only want two things in this world. I want you. And I want us." He pushes the tray with annoyance. "So, I know exactly what this is. And like an idiot, I thought I knew where this was going. Until two minutes ago."

She's speechless, too stunned for words and when she looks up at him he lifts the tray and carries it past her and back out to the living room.

She stares at the empty space he was taking up a second ago.

I know exactly what this is.

Troy's hoarse words echo in her head, and a vise of emotions constricts her heart, because she's pretty sure she knows exactly what this is too.

And she was scared that because of her split-second moment of indecision, she threw it all away.

Troy

He places the snack tray down in front of his sisters who are engrossed with their current game of Plants vs. Zombies.

"Gonna go get my charger out of the car. Be right back. I call the winner."

He's out of the living room and pulling the front door open and shutting it behind him. A frigid gust of spring wind blasts him and a slight chill ripple through his body.

This is why he avoided the whole girlfriend drama in the first place. Seriously, he should be inside spending time with his family and over the fucking moon because his life was so fucking awesome. His team was winning, his grades were up, his life was right on track. Instead, he was pissed off and frustrated over a woman.

He walked down the steps and out onto the driveway shaking out his hands then cranking his neck this way and that. He needed to get rid of this feeling, needed to fix his own attitude.

Because she was right, they had been just fooling around. It's what they had agreed to. She was clear about that from the beginning. But then things changed, he couldn't explain it, but it felt different. It felt like they had clicked into place and that place was… so…perfect.

"Troy."

He spins around to find Gabriella shutting the door behind her and coming down the steps. She looks as annoyed as he feels. "What the hell is wrong with you? You can't just storm off in the middle of a serious discussion?"

"There was nothing left to discuss."

"Bullshit," she shakes her head. "You didn't even let me talk."

"Yes I did," he answered flatly. "And trust me, you said plenty."

"That's not fair." Gabriella came to stand in front of him. "You caught me off guard and didn't even give me a second to think about it."

"What's there to think about? You're either into me, or you're not."

She makes a frustrated noise. "Just because you suddenly decide you're ready for a relationship and that we should be together doesn't mean that I'm going to squeal like a sorority girl and say take me I'm yours." She rolls her eyes. "You clearly had time to think about this and absorb it. You gave me five minutes."

A pang of guilt echoes inside him and his shoulders sag again. When he meets her beautiful brown eyes again, they're probing his face, as if trying to read him.

"Do you still want to be together?"

He nods. His mouth suddenly desert dry as he tries to gulp.

"Will we be exclusive?"

"Fuck yeah," he says without hesitation. The thought of her seeing anyone else is like a machete to the gut.

She bit her bottom lip for a moment, before crossing her arms over her chest. "We're both really busy, and if you get drafted things are gonna get even crazier."

A flicker of hope came to life. "We can handle it."

"Are you sure because with my coursework and exams and your game schedule-"

"We can handle it." He repeats, surprised by how calm he sounds, how composed he felt even with the herd of excited butterflies thumping in his stomach and shouting out cheers at top volume. Jeez. he was about to complicate his life by inviting a girlfriend into it, and that was more than fine with him.

"Alright," she says with a small smile. "We can make it official then."

"What about Josh?" Troy asks, narrowing his eyes at her. "you said you needed time. That you didn't want to be codependent or whatever?"

"What you said back there," she motions back at the house over her shoulder. "Only wanting two things?" she shrugs. "It's the same for me too. It's why this scares me. I can't handle it if you change your mind. I don't know what kind of girl I am anymore, but I know that if I commit to this and you don't, I will be the broken kind."

"I will never change my mind when it comes to you," he says quietly. "I know exactly what kind of girl you are because you're my kind. You were always and will always be my kind of girl."

She inhales sharply. "You've always been my kind too, you're like the perfect man conjured from my nerdiest fantasies."

Just like that, his anxiety dissolves into a burst of pure joy that brings a grin to his lips. "I love you," he whispers once she's close enough to hear him. It's the first time he's ever told a woman that he loves her, and it feels so damn right to say it to Gabriella.

"I love you too, probably always have," her eyes are wide at the confession. "That probably makes me seem like a complete loser but-."

"Hey," he says, reaching for her and tugging her closer to him by the hem of her open sweater. "That's my girlfriend you're talking about."

"I like the sound of that," she says with a small smile.

"Good," he murmurs, coming down to meet her lips with a soft kiss. His lips brush over hers, lazy and teasing like they have all the time in the world to enjoy this. And they do. Because there was nowhere else, he would rather be than here, kissing this woman senseless.

Epilogue One (Troy)

He usually didn't drink like this.

He motioned towards the bartender for another drink, his eyes looking down at his now empty cup. Anxiety and nerves pulled at his mood.

The room was teeming with important people. Reporters and celebrities as far as the eye could see. Everywhere he looked people we're making small talk, laughing or posing for pictures.

Annabel made her way over to him through the crowd of people. Her deep blue sparkly dress fitted to her curves. Fucking puberty.

His little sister was a head turner, and from the moment she arrived at university Troy had struggled with his peers and teammates ogling his kid sister.

Even though he'd threaten to physically remove Zeke's balls from his body if he so much as looked at Annabel it was unavoidable. Gabriella had called him a jackass and stood beside Annabel with pointed death glares in his direction.

Obviously, the lecture fell flat and after enough pouting and foot stomping Zeke was given a nod of approval to ask Annabel out on their first date.

That was four years ago and they're still going strong. Gabriella had been right. He had been a jackass.

"Hey Troy," Annabel came to stand by his side, an amused glint in her eyes as she reached up and picked some lint from suit jacket. "You look like you're ready to put the bolt in Bolton."

He smirks. "Clever."

"What on earth are you nervous about?" She laughs. "Gabriella is not going to turn you down."

Troy narrowed his eyes on her. "Have you met my girlfriend?"

Annabel laughed at that.

The bartender came back with his drink and took it. Lifting it to his lips and taking a sip as he tried his best to suppress the memories of her rejections at the beginning of their second go at a relationship. The #TroyellaReboot, as Chad had officially named it. The last four years together had been amazing. Hell, for a short time, he had been terrified of her disappearing, or him waking up from the dream he'd fallen into. He also couldn't wipe the smile from his face.

They had moved into a nice apartment in Los Angeles, California together, she was still attending school and going for her master's degree in clinical Mental Health and he was drafted to the Los Angeles Lakers. Between the away games and her hectic course load they did make it work. They spent as much time together as humanly possible. They didn't let their busy schedules control their relationship. Nothing else mattered to him more. Basketball didn't matter. Winning championships, sponsors, building a brand. None of it mattered if they weren't connecting.

The ring sat encased in a red velvet box in his pocket. He'd been carrying it around for a month now waiting for the perfect time to ask her. Tonight, had to be the night. Tonight, he was going to ask Monty to marry him.

At that moment, the crowd parts and he catches a glimpse of her. Her brown waves loose around her shoulders as she smiles at Taylor. The two were always conspiring at these damn events. They were standing next to Chad and Zeke who were currently talking to a reporter. Monty's eyes glanced in his direction and a sultry fire light up her brown eyes for him. She looks amazing in that strapless red number, and she knows it. He wasn't the only guy sending her looks. Which made the urge to slip this ring on her finger and claim her as his even greater.

"Why are you over here anyway and not with Zeke?" Troy asked, leaning in closer to be heard over the low rumbles of the crowd. "This is a celebration for the team, your boy did good out there."

"And he knows it." Annabel said with a pleased smirk. "Seriously, it's going to be impossible to live with this year's MVP. I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to sneak that trophy into the bed later."

Troy winced at the mental image. "Please, the less I'm reminded of the fact that you two live together now, the better."

Annabel shoved him playfully. "Why aren't you over there charming the reporters?"

Troy let out a shaky breath. "Honestly?"

"No," Annabel said with mock seriousness. "Lie to me."

"I'm trying to rehearse my proposal and I can't concentrate with all the chaos."

Annabel's eyes soften and she looks at him with pity. Then she takes his drink from his hand and shoves him forward. "Go get your girl and find a secluded, but nice balcony to escape to. And for the love of God just do it already."

He's about to turn and protest when she gives him a pointed glare.

"You look like mom when you do that."

"Stop stalling."

Epilogue Two (Gabriella)

Kane Brown filtered out of the kitchen speaker in a soft murmur as she sliced carrots into halves.

It was Christmas and her parents had arrived yesterday, bringing with them an abundance of Christmas presents for their boys. Charlie, 8 years old and Jonathan, 5 years old, both now sat in the living room with her father on a mission to watch the Jurassic Park trilogy before midnight.

On a breath she winced and placed a hand on her side, her third baby boy currently pressing against her bladder. Troy had been hopeful for a girl but proudly pleased with the announcement of his third son.

"Honey," her mother said with a knowing smile. She'd been in the kitchen alongside Gabriella most of the morning. Gently reminding her to take breaks and put her feet up. "Maybe you should go lay down with the boys. You don't want to overdo it. Lucile can help me with the rest."

As if on cue, they heard the front door open, and chaos followed. The sound of Bolton's entering her home sliced through the quiet.

"See, the Cauvery has arrived." Her mother laughed.

"Where is my gorgeous pregnant daughter-in-law?" Lucile came into view first Troy shuffling behind her with bags filled to the brim with more presents. He looked slightly overwhelmed. Proof that sisters were probably close behind.

And sure, enough Cynthia appeared beside her mother with a bag of groceries. Her now pixie cut sandy brown hair spiked in front in a messy tousled look. She was stunningly gorgeous, her blue eyes lighter than her brothers and cheekbones more defined.

"We brought the potatoes!" She announced with a shrug. "Troy said you needed a few more but mom didn't trust his judgment. So, we got a ten-pound bag."

"Perfect," Gabriella's mom reached to take the bags from Cynthia ushering her into the kitchen. "We could really use the help Gabi was just about to take another break."

"I could peel potatoes," Gabriella offered. "Really just put a stool by the trash can and I'm ready to go."

"Not a chance," Lucile's hands immediately went to her baby bump, she bends slightly to speak to her unborn grandson. "You are going to love your Gigi's mashed potatoes," she smiled lovingly.

Then she reached her hands up to Gabriella's cheeks. "How are you honey, is everything okay? Are you taking breaks? This isn't too much is it? I know we can be a lot sometimes."

"Oh God, no, we're good," Gabriella let out a soft laugh. "Honestly, I feel bad inviting everyone over to cook for me. I feel like a horrible hostess."

"Nonsense," Lucile said warmly. "I've been there. Take the advantage of the breaks when offered."

Her stomach rippled a bit and Gabriella made a face as she rubbed a hand over her bump in an attempt to settle the baby inside. This little one was active, he seemed to always be in motion even more so if he heard his father nearby.

And Troy enjoyed being a father so much, he loved reading bedtime stories and making Mickey Mouse pancakes and building elaborate racetracks with the boys that took up most of the living room. Of course, his heart was still set on having a little girl. And secretly… she was excited at the thought of a big family.

"He's moving around a lot more. We got one more month to go." Gabriella added the last part with relief. While she adored her children, her family and cherished every moment of motherhood. But she really wanted this pregnancy to be over. She missed coffee, she missed wine, and she missed being able to see her feet.

Last night she had to ask Troy to help her shave her legs, which he did gladly taking advantage of her parents watching the boys while he gave her his undivided attention. It had started out innocently enough, their small talk over the upcoming holiday, his excitement over seeing his sisters. Showing his dad, the improvements he made in the basement.

At first, he'd been rubbing her legs gently with a towel, then without the towel, then he'd been placing kisses on her calf, her inner thigh, until he had her pinned to the bathroom door with a leg thrown over his shoulder and feasting on her sex desperately.

The memory of it made her sex throb with a sharp need. The memory of her hand over her mouth trying to keep quiet.

Granted in a house this size she probably hadn't needed to worry, but years of prying little ears at the door or running around the halls had her doing it away. When they first brought the house, she'd been half convinced that seven bedrooms and three bathrooms had been over kill.

Then one summer visit with both their families for Charlie's 1st birthday and she quickly realized it was the smartest decision they ever made.

The sound of an infant laughing caught her attention and she felt joy flutter through her as Zeke and Annabel came through the front door with their second born beautiful daughter, Lisa strapped to Zeke's chest in a carrier. Leslie their three old clingy to her mother's hip.

"Troy?" Annabel called out. "There are bags in the rental. Can you help dad with those?"

Cynthia came back from the kitchen, hands out and reaching as she moved to take the baby from Zeke.

"Come here gorgeous." She cooed as she reached for her niece. "Auntie Cindy needs her new baby smell fix."

Troy appeared from the living room again, his hand moving to Gabriella's lower back in a gentle rub. "You okay Monty?"

"Doing great," she said, motioning to her stomach. "You son's bouncing on my spleen."

"He's working on his dunking skills." Troy said, jokingly as he started making his way towards the front door.

Jack passed him on the way in with bags in both arms and one tucked underneath his arm and Troy stopped, "Did you leave any behind for me?"

Jack grunted "Rachel and her boyfriend just pulled up. He's a hockey player." He grunted the last part. "Go help them unload the Taxi."

"Hockey," Troy let out a low groan as he continued his way out the door. This time Zeke followed behind him.

Gabriella finally made her way to the living room, smiling as Jonathan made room for her besides him. It took her a bit to sit down gently then she snuggled beside her youngest and loved him even more when he offered her some of his blanket too. She glanced over to find her father and Charlie memorized by the movie. Oblivious to the new house guest.

She relaxed as her home continued to fill with chaos, love, and laughter as more family appeared. And she smiled, her heart swelling with happiness.

The end.