Author's Note: Hey everyone, this is my first RTT fic, and my first fic in an incredibly long time, so please R+R, and be nice.

Thanks to Jel and Kora for writing amazing stories and prompting the rest of us slackers to pick up the pace. =þ

And yeah, the disclaimer: 'Remember the Titans' is not mine, it's Disney's. Ryan Gosling is not mine, he's Jel's, and she's right, the rest of us only have clones. Kip Pardue could be mine, but I'm still not sure. For now he is, but I'll gladly share. Gabrielle, Tina, Mr. Collins, and any other characters that don't sound familiar are mine. And finally, a certain short, brown-eyed, basketball-playing pianist/computer geek is definitely mine without a doubt, so back off!!!

A Love Worth Waiting For

            Alan slumped against the wall in his room and sulked. Life was just not fair. He had enough to deal with, what with his less-than-stellar performance on the football field and his father's persistent nagging, both of which went hand-in-hand. It didn't help that Alan was small, skinny, somewhat slow, and not as good as everyone else, but was that his fault? And he didn't know what was worse; the fact that his father picked on him constantly, especially since he wasn't even starting anymore, or the fact that his father blamed it all on Coach Boone. If it was anyone's fault, it was definitely was not Coach Boone's. Alan picked up the football lying beside him and threw it into the air. Football was the least of his problems right now…

            He just couldn't understand it. Gerry had Emma, Julius had his girl Tina, Rev and Blue could serenade girls into submission. Petey could jump from one woman to the next without the least bit of hesitation, and Ronnie, Mr. California Heartthrob, had more female admirers than he knew what to do with. Hell, Louie Lastik would probably get hooked up faster than Alan did. He had a fleeting vision of Lastik with an equally hefty girl on his arm and abruptly began to laugh. Okay, he thought, I take that back… I really didn't need to see that…

            Alan got up and looked at himself in the mirror. A thin, pale boy with bright blue eyes and golden hair in desperate need of a trim stared back at him. He tried to square his shoulders, make himself look tougher like Gerry or Julius, fun-loving like Rev or Petey, sweet and sensitive like Sunshine. But that pale, boyish face kept peering back at him. Alan sighed in defeat. Why did I have to come up at the shallow end of the gene pool?

            " Alan! "  Ronnie yelled, catching sight of him running at full speed towards the school. " Hurry up, man, you're gonna be late! "

            " Yeah, hence the running, " Alan replied breathlessly as he sped through the doors and made his way to his locker, fumbling clumsily with the lock as he glanced at his watch. He cursed when he saw that it had stopped, then continued grabbing his books and shoving them mercilessly into his bag. At the sound of the bell, Alan cursed again and made a mad dash for class. If I'm late for math again, he thought, Mr. Collins is definitely going to give it to me, I'm sure of it. I'm not sure who's scarier, Collins or Coach Boone… no wait, stupid comparison, never mind…

            Alan turned a corner and ran right into someone, sending them both falling to the floor in a flurry of paper. Great, exactly what I need right now, he thought as he tried to pull himself up off the floor. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the pair of blue eyes staring at him. And the face that went along with them.

            A girl in a white sweater and navy blue skirt was on her knees about a foot away from where Alan was sitting. Her long straight hair, so blonde that it was almost white, was slightly tousled from the collision, and her ruby lips were set in a soft 'O' of surprise. Her skin was slightly flushed, and her eyes – large, cornflower-blue eyes – bored holes right into him. The moment lasted for a second, maybe two or three at the most, but it could have lasted forever for all Alan card. Sweet Jesus, but she's beautiful…

            Her voice, soft and sweet, broke the silence. " I'm so sorry! Are you okay? "

            " Just peachy, " Alan answered dazedly. Then he stopped. Why wasn't he asking her if she was okay? " Actually, I should be asking you if you're alright, " he added quickly. " After all, I'm the one who knocked you over. "

            The girl smiled, and Alan forgot to breathe. " I'm fine, thank you. "

            They spent a few minutes gathering all the papers off the floor, then with a smile and a wave the girl was off. Alan waved back, then pulled a little blue day planner out of his pocket. Gabrielle Stevenson, the cover read in beautiful flowing handwriting. Alan smiled dazedly. He had to find her, he just had to.

            A second bell, signaling the beginning of classes, roused Alan from his daydream. He was definitely late for math now, but he couldn't care less. He practically danced the rest of the way to class, he was so happy. All that mattered was seeing that angel again.

            " You're late, Mr. Bosley. Again. For the fifth time this month. " Mr. Collins, gaunt and fearsome, towered over Alan's desk. It was all the boy could do not to start cowering under the man's shadow.

Instead, Alan merely grinned a bit. What was his scary old math teacher in the face of true love? " I'm sorry, sir. It won't happen again. I had a bit of an accident on the way to class – "

" I won't have any more of your excuses, Alan. You'll see me after class – "

A soft, sweet voice cut Mr. Collins off in mid-sentence. " Um, sir? "

" What is it, Gabrielle? "

Both men turned around to see the girl in the hallway with her hand in the air. " Alan really did have an accident in the hallway, " she explained. " I knocked him over by accident, and if he hadn't stayed to help me pick up my books we both would have been late. "

The math teacher scowled at the girl, then turned his frowning face back to Alan. " I'll let you off this time. But one more late and I swear I'll have you down in the principal's office faster than… "

But Alan had already tuned him out. That girl saved him. She really was an angel…

" … do I make myself perfectly clear, Mr. Bosley? " Mr. Collins bellowed.

Alan grinned again. " Yes, sir. "

" Alan, you had that grin fixed to your face all morning, " Petey noted on the way to the cafeteria. " Now I reckon something's up, and now you're gonna tell me exactly what it is. "

" I just met an angel, Petey, " Alan replied, grinning dazedly.

Petey laughed. " That's real funny Alan. Coach Boone's been runnin' your John Brown hind parts so hard it's startin' to affect your head. Now seriously, man, what's up? "

" I am completely serious, " Alan insisted, digging heartily into a dish of unidentifiable mush disguised as macaroni and cheese, ignoring the fact that it neither looked nor tasted anything remotely like macaroni and cheese. " She's sweet, intelligent, and beautiful. "

" And she's not mine? " Petey asked incredulously. " So tell me, how'd you and your 'angel' meet? "

Alan recounted the story of how he and Gabrielle knocked each other over in the hall, and Petey nodded. " Interesting. Really. " Abruptly he stood up, nearly knocking the table over. " Gerry! Sunshine! Julius! " he yelled to the other side of the cafeteria. " Our boy over here got a – "

" Shut up, Petey! " Alan hissed.

" Shut up, Petey! " Gerry, Ronnie, and Julius chorused from the other side of the room.

" I don't want you to say anything, okay? " Alan continued, returning to his food. " The last thing I need right now is people nosing into my love life. " He downed a forkful of orangey goo and gagged, hastily spitting it out. " Eww! What the heck have I been eating? "

" Gabrielle! " Alan yelled down the hall. " Hey, Gabrielle! Wait up! "

Gabrielle turned around and flashed a smile. " Alan Bosley, right? "

" Yeah. We're in the same math class. "

" Hi. You know, I was just thinking about you. "

She was thinking about me?! Alan reddened. " Uh, yeah. Listen, I forgot to give you something back when I hit you in the hall earlier. "

Gabrielle's friends began giggling insanely, and Alan blushed even more as he dug through his pocket. " You dropped this, " he said, handing Gabrielle the little blue day planner.

The crowd of girls giggled even more, and this time it was Gabrielle's turn to blush. " Wow, thank you. I've been going crazy looking for this all day. "

Alan grinned. " You're welcome. "

There was a moment of awkward silence, then Gabrielle spoke. " Well, I guess I'll be going, " she said shyly.

" Um, yeah. "

" See you tomorrow, Alan. " Gabrielle smiled again, then turned and walked off with her friends, who were still giggling. Alan shook his head. Giggling should be outlawed, he thought as he listened to the girls tittering down the hall.

From a safe distance away, Petey, Blue, Rev, and Ronnie peered around the lockers at Alan. " I stand corrected, " Ronnie muttered in disbelief. " You weren't lying. "

" I told ya! " Petey yelled, and immediately Blue and Rev smothered him.

" You shut your mouth, boy! " Blue chastised. Then he grinned. " You don't want ol' Casanova down there to hear you, now, do you? "

" He ain't gonna hear me! " Petey continued, louder still. " He's too hung up on Goldilocks down there – "

" I thought I was Goldilocks, " Ronnie cut in, smirking.

" Nah, the name don't fit you no more, " Rev said with a smile. He looked back at where Alan and the other girl were standing and talking. " Alan sure has got good taste though. "

            " Alan! " Gerry ran up to Alan just as he was taking off his helmet and ruffled his golden hair. " Way to go, man! "

            Alan grinned a bit, remembering that he'd made a particularly good hit on someone during practice. " Hey, it was just a tackle. Nothing special. "

            Gerry laughed and shook his head. " Man, you know what I'm talkin' about. " With that and another hard pat on the back Gerry was off, leaving Alan completely confused. No, Gerry, he thought, I don't know what you're talking about.

            He got even more of it when he walked into the locker room. The whole room erupted into cheering and hollering, slapping Alan on the back, and the strangest thing was that Alan didn't have the slightest idea why. But when he took one look at Petey, it dawned on him. " Petey… you didn't… did you? "

            " Alan, I don't know what you're talking about, " Petey replied, feigning innocence.

            Alan sighed. " Petey, I told you not to say anything! "

            " Hey, I didn't say I told no one, " Petey retorted, refusing point-blank to look Alan in the eye. " You know, it just… slipped out. "

            " Petey, if you weren't completely capable of kicking my butt, I would kill you right now. " Alan shook his head and took a few deep breaths. " Okay, I guess it's not that bad. But this is not leaving the locker room. You understand? "

            " Cross my heart an' hope to die - "

            " Great. " With that, Alan left the room.

            " – well, sort of, " Petey finished.

            " Hi, Alan. "

            Alan gave a little jump and whipped around to see Gabrielle in all her glory smiling at him. " How'd you know where my locker was? " he asked.

            Gabrielle shyly twisted her white-blonde hair around her fingers. " Oh, just a lucky guess. I saw you standing here and I figured I should go say hi. "

            Alan smiled. " Oh. Well, hi. "

            " Did you finish all the math homework? " Gabrielle asked. " I mean, I know you had football practice and all yesterday so I though maybe – "

            " How'd you know I had football practice? " Alan cut in, surprised.

            " Oh – the field's on my way home, " Gabrielle admitted bashfully. " I saw you guys playing… you're number 48, right? Linebacker? Yeah, I saw you, " she added as Alan nodded, shocked.

            She's beautiful, smart, and she knows her football, Alan thought dazedly. Sweet Jesus, but she's perfect! " Um… yeah. And yeah, I finished the math homework. "

            " Thank goodness, that's wonderful. I couldn't get question 23, do you think you could help me with it? "

            " But – but I don't sit anywhere near you, " Alan protested feebly. What a pathetic excuse, he yelled at himself.

            Gabrielle stared right at Alan, who found himself completely unable to look away. " Please? " she pleaded sweetly.

            Alan sighed. No way in hell was he going to say no to her. " Okay, sure. But if Mr. Collins finds out we're not sitting in the right seats – "

            " Oh Alan, he's not going to care – "

            " – already hates me for being late every day – "

            " – I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I said you were helping me – "

            " – I think you're the only person in class that man doesn't hate – "

            Gabrielle burst out laughing at that comment. Alan liked her laugh; it was light and bubbly and from the heart, not fake and plastic. " What's so funny? " Alan demanded.

            " It's just that… you make him sound so evil! " Gabrielle exclaimed.

            Alan shrugged. " Yeah, well he is. "

            " Yes, I know, but it's so funny when you do it. It's adorable. "

            Alan reddened. He'd never – never in his lifetime – been complimented by a girl. Well, maybe once or twice, after a football game, but that didn't count. And never had any girl called him adorable. " I – I like your laugh, " he stuttered, and Gabrielle just flashed one of those beautifully sweet smiles. Alan couldn't have felt any more stupid.

            " He's so adorable! "

            " Gosh, he's such a hottie… look at that hair… and those beautiful eyes… "

            " He's in my first period class. "

            " Ahh! You're so lucky!! "

            " Excuse me, ladies, " Alan mumbled as he pushed his way through the crowd of girls clustered around the window facing out into the schoolyard, where there was a clear view of Ronnie doing his daily tai chi exercises. Alan banged against the window, catching Ronnie's attention. Then he ran outside to meet Ronnie at the school doors. " What's up, man? " Ronnie asked, seeing the panicked look on Alan's face.

            " I… I… I have no idea, " Alan stuttered. " It's – it's hard to explain - "

            " Gabrielle Stevenson? " Ronnie said with an amused grin.

            Alan turned beet red. " Yes – no – man, Sunshine, I must sound like a real idiot right now – "

            " No you don't. Let me guess, you like her - "

            " Understatement of the year, " Alan muttered.

            " – and you don't know what to do, " Ronnie finished. " The age-old love problem. Well, tell her. "

            " Have you plumb lost your mind?! " Alan exclaimed. " I can't tell her! We've only known each other for what, two days? That would be insane! "

            " Whoa, calm down man, " Ronnie cut in. " I didn't mean now, I meant eventually. "

            " But how?! "

            " I dunno, " Ronnie answered after a few minutes of thought. " I can't tell you that one. Just use some of that natural Alan Bosley charm. "

            The bell rang, and Ronnie looked towards the school. " Shoot, I've got English Lit. next and it's on the other side of the school. See ya later, Alan. "

            " What – what natural Alan Bosley charm? " Alan called after him.