At the end of the school day, Gabriella was at her locker putting books away when she felt arms wrap around her waist and turning her. She smiled as Troy leaned down and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Hey Brie, how were your classes?"

"Pretty good Wildcat, some stares and whispers here and there but nothing I couldn't handle. How about you?"

"Yeah pretty much the same." He kept his arm around her waist as she finished organising her books before walking to the gym, only to be stopped by Hayden.

"Now look at that, Bolton saves the day at the party, only to appear with the little tease when we get back to school."

Troy tightened his arms around Gabriella and his eyes narrowed at his teammate. "Don't even start Johnson, you're damn lucky that I didn't inform Coach of this and you are lucky that Gabriella didn't press charges. She was not a tease to you, it's your fault you couldn't resist your urges."

The boy smirked. "Well maybe she should've helped with that. How does it feel, huh Bolton, how does it feel to know that I've felt up your girlfriend before you have?"

Troy felt Gabriella's grip on him tighten, allowing him to maintain some restraint. "Johnson, shut the hell up, the only reason you're still standing is because I refuse to fight in front of Gabriella, but you know damn well that you'd be on the ground in a second, didn't the party prove that to you?"

"Whatever Bolton." Hayden said, rolling his eyes before walking off.

Troy moved his arm to around her shoulders and kissed her forehead before walking them both to the gym, knowing that at some point during practice, Gabriella would go to pick up the girls.

Meanwhile Chad was at his locker when he was approached by Taylor. "Hey Chad, I know we've never really spoken or anything but I just want to know if Gabriella's ok from after the party."

"Of course she's ok, why wouldn't she be?" He noticed Taylor's eyes widen. "Did something happen?"

"I - I thought Gabriella would've told you, umm it's not my place, you should really ask her what happened."

She turned to walk away but Chad grabbed her arm gently. "Taylor please tell me, I know Gabriella is your friend and you're trying to do right by her, but she can be extremely stubborn sometimes and tries to handle everything by herself, I just need you to tell me what happened to my sister."

Taylor sighed before telling Chad everything she knew about the party on Saturday night.

Troy and Gabriella were in the gym, talking on the bleachers when the door slammed open. "JOHNSON." Chad growled going towards the boy.

Gabriella gasped, the look in her brother's eyes informed her that he'd found out about the party. She jumped up and ran over to Chad before he could get to his teammate. "Chad stop." He pushed her away, his anger blinding him from the panic in his sister's voice. She tried again, grabbing his forearm. "Chad please." He went to shove her away only to realise it was his sister and seeing the emotion in her eyes.

"I'm gonna kill him."

She shook her head. "Leave it alone, Chad please, it's over."

"He has no right to touch you, he's dead."

"No leave it alone Chad Daniel. Troy already dealt with him at the party and we're not continuing it anymore, you know I hate seeing it, please just stop." He sighed as he heard the emotion in her voice, he knew she was seconds away from crying. He gently grabbed her forearm and led her to the bleachers.

"Why didn't you tell me Gabriella, why the hell did I have to find out through Taylor?"

It was Gabriella's turn to sigh. "Chad it doesn't matter, it's been and happened and I'm ok. Troy got there before he had a chance to do anything and he already did enough damage to him. We have enough to worry about, I wasn't gonna add anything else to your plate superstar, it's fine."

"You're my little sister G, it's my job to protect you and how am I supposed to do that if I don't know what I need to protect you from?"

"It's really sweet of you to want to protect me Superstar, but I'm not a helpless little girl anymore, I know how to handle myself. You've also gotta remember that you're not the only one who's protecting me anymore, I have Troy now too. You're my big brother and I love you but I'm not fully your responsibility Chad."

Chad narrowed his eyes towards Troy. "Bolton." The boy walked over, standing beside his girlfriend, taking her hand in his. "I asked you why Gabriella wanted to leave the party and you didn't tell me."

"It was Gabriella's decision to make, if she wanted to tell you, she would, I was just respecting her decision."

Chad rolled his eyes. "Of course she didn't want you to tell me, she was scared from what happened and you were there to protect her so she clung to you, you being 17 should've been mature enough to tell me, she's only 15."

Gabriella spoke up. "Chad Daniel Montez, that is enough. Troy was only trying to do what I asked him, he was trying to make me feel comfortable and for the record, he did ask me multiple times when we were at the party and at home if I wanted you, but I was ok. You can't blame him Chad, he did nothing wrong. I love you Superstar and I'm always gonna need my big brother but there are some things that you are used to that Troy is now able to do and you have to accept that."

Chad sighed and nodded. "You're right, I'm sorry G. I know you're not a little kid anymore but I still feel the need to protect you little sis, that's never gonna go away."

She smiled and hugged him. "I know that and i'm not asking you to let it go, you just have to back off a little sometimes, as long as I'm ok and happy, it's fine right?"

"Yeah little sis, you're right. I love you G."

"I love you too Superstar." She took her place back beside Troy.

Chad turned to the captain. "I'm sorry Troy, I didn't mean to go off at you, I know you want to protect her as much as I do, I guess I should be glad that you were there to help my sister."

"It's fine Chad, I get it, it's like I told Locky earlier, I just want to protect her and make her happy. I know what you mean about wanting to protect her."

Chad nodded and left the couple alone. Gabriella wrapped her arms around his waist. "I'm sorry Chad went a bit crazy."

He tucked a strand behind her ear. "No worries Baby, I understand why he did, I know I wouldn't be too happy to find out something happened to you that you didn't tell me and that I couldn't protect you from it. That doesn't mean I demand that you tell me everything, it just -"

She smiled at him and kissed his cheek. "I get it Wildcat, it's ok, I understand where you're coming from and thank you."

He kissed her forehead. "No worries Baby."

She looked over to see the coach coming towards the team and rubbed his waist. "Ok Wildcat, I'll let you get to practice while I pick up the girls. I'll see you after you finish, have fun."

"Bye Brie." he said with a kiss on her cheek before going over to his team.