(A.N. Thanks to everyone who has been reading and thank you especially to those who have reviewed / given feedback, I really appreciate it! Let me know what you think of the story so far and what you'd like to see happen in future chapters xx)

That weekend saw Gabriella arriving at Troy's house on Saturday afternoon. Chad and Lachlan had assured her that the girls would be fine with them for a few hours and that if anything happened, they'd call her. She rang the doorbell and was greeted by Troy. "Hey Baby." He said as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her cheek.

"Hey Wildcat."

"So I was thinking we could go see my parents for a bit then hang in my room, we could watch a movie or something, unless you had something in mind that you wanted to do?"

She shook her head. "No that sounds like fun." She followed him as he walked into the dining room to see his mother with some papers in front of her. "Hi Mrs Bolton."

"Gabriella, how are you Dear?"

"Good thank you, how are you?"

"I'm quite well thank you."

Troy spoke up. "Is Dad here?"

"Oh no, not at the moment, he went to a district meeting."

"Oh ok then. Mama, Gabriella and I are just gonna hang in my room."

"That's fine Bud."

Troy went to walk off but Gabriella spoke up. "Mrs Bolton, do you have any rules or anything for when I'm over?"

"Rules? Oh no Dear, I trust you both."

She smiled. "Ok thank you, I just thought I'd ask."

"No worries Gabriella, you two have fun."

She followed Troy up to his bedroom and giggled as he threw himself onto his bed before gesturing her over. She sat on the edge before he pulled her closer so she rested on his chest. "That's better."

She giggled. "You're crazy Wildcat." She leant her chin on her forearms. "So what are we gonna do?"

He tucked a loose strand behind her ear before replying. "Anything you'd like Brie."

"Could we maybe play 20 questions?" At his perplexed look, she continued. "I just - I wanna know about you, all the little things. I haven't been at East High for so long and I feel like a lot of the things I know, so does the rest of the school. I just wanna know everything -"

"Brie, you don't have to justify, we can play 20 questions if you'd like." She nodded in response. "So how exactly does it work?"

"Well we'll take turns asking questions we want to know, the other person answers first and then you answer your own question. Do you want me to start?" He nodded in response. "Ok umm favourite movie?"

"Probably The Goonies, it reminds me of when I was a kid, you?"

"Umm mine's probably Annie, that was my favourite from when I was little."

"What's your favourite song?"

Gabriella giggled. "I feel like we're going to be asking a lot of the generic questions first. My favourite is probably Breakaway, I relate to it I guess."

"That's cool Brie, mine's probably Don't Stop Believin'."

"If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?"

Troy thought for a minute. "I've always wanted to travel and see the wonders of the world so I guess it depends on the context, I mean I'd love to take you to Paris and other places in Europe, they're really beautiful. I'd love to see the seven wonders of the world but I think my all time place to visit would be either Venice or Greece."

"That's amazing Wildcat, I'm sure you'll get to see all those places one day."

"I want you to be right there beside me Baby."

She bit her lip. "I guess we'll have to see. To answer my own question, I never pictured myself having enough money to go to anywhere outrageous, or out of the country even, so I guess mine would be California. Call me a kid but I've always wanted to go Disneyland, well I'm sure that's every kid's dream. I'd love to see the Golden Gate Bridge and the Hollywood sign. To be able to explore LA and the smaller towns in California -" She realised how much she had said. "Oops sorry, I'm rambling again."

He stroked her cheek. "Don't apologise, there's nothing wrong with rambling and it was really cute to see how invested you are in seeing California. I promise I'll make sure that you get to see it one day." She kissed his cheek in response. "Ok how about first impressions? What was your first impression of me?"

He noted the light blush on her cheeks as she responded. "Well um we first met when you helped me with Sophie and I guess my first thought was that you were handsome and nice. When we had lunch and walked to class, I realised you were one of the only people outside of my family that I felt comfortable around."

"I'm glad Baby. I thought you were beautiful, I hated seeing Sophie mess with you and there was just something that drew me to you. When we started talking, as I said to Locky when he asked, there was this kind of purity about you that the other girls at school just don't have."

"Is it because I'm a -"

"No Sweetheart, it's not for that reason, it's just your personality, you have this matured innocence about you, it's very sweet. And I was comfortable around you too."

"What's something you've never told anyone?"

He was shocked by this question. "Umm well the travelling was definitely a big one but probably... for the first few years up until I was about 12, I hated basketball. I love it now but before, I only did it to make my dad happy."

Gabriella was surprised by his response, the talent and love for the sport on the court largely contradicted his previous statement. "Wow, I never would've guessed that. Mine, well umm promise you won't tell Chad or Locky or anyone?" He nodded hesitantly, looking at her curiously. "Before we came to East High, I had a bit of a habit for when I had panic attacks, I would cut my arms."

A mixture of shock, panic and worry settled on his face. "You self harm?"

"No not anymore, I haven't done it since we came to East High and it wasn't self harm as such. I wasn't suicidal or anything I just - it helped. I wasn't using a knife or anything dangerous and I made sure it wasn't near my veins." She showed him her left forearm where he could see the faint scars, some lines, some forming words he couldn't exactly figure out. "I'd use the sharp edge of those compasses we use in maths, it'd help me calm from my panic attacks but it never cut through deep enough to do damage." She saw he was about to protest. "I was never planning on hurting myself because I couldn't leave my brothers or sisters and I promise that I haven't done it since I came here."

He was shocked and at a loss for words. "I - uh -"

"Shh Troy, you don't have to say anything." She placed a chaste kiss on his lips. "Everything's fine and this doesn't change anything."

"Should we finish the game another time?"

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah I don't really want to answer or think of anymore questions. Can we just cuddle?"

He chuckled lightly and pulled her tightly into his arms, keeping her on his chest as he buried his head into the crook of her neck. "Sure Baby." He lightly kissed the skin infront of him. "I love you."

"I love you Wildcat."