Hi, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm a bit nervous to put this up as I don't feel 100% good about it, I was a little bit stuck writing it but I hope that doesn't come across too much. Thank you for reading and please review.
Monday morning was extremely sunny and pretty warm but Gabriella knew that at this time of the year when the sun dropped into the sky indicating that it was night time; the air would get cooler and a jacket would be needed. She contemplated what the right outfit would be and finally she settled on a black and white striped strappy bodysuit with a pair of vintage looking and slightly loose and extremely worn in pair of high waisted shorts along with a pair of low top converse and some sunglasses.
She changed before helping out her boys like she did every morning and efficiently got them to school on time in time for her to have a strong coffee before Troy was due to arrive. Gabriella let out a nervous breath and began to tinker with her cell phone while she waited to try and get Troy and their impending date off her mind.
When the doorbell rang, there was no getting her mind off it anymore, "Holy shit," She muttered, running her fingers through her hair once more before walking to open the door. Once she stood in the hall, one more deep breath and she pulled it open.
"Hey, I was beginning to think you'd bailed," Troy said with a large grin.
Gabriella shook her head, "I would never," She returned before looking up at him, "What happened to you?" She gasped, reaching out as if she was going to touch his face but she snatched her hand back when she thought that they may not be at that stage.
Troy winced at her reaction, "Guys night ended up a little… scrappy?" He crinkled his nose.
Gabriella licked her lips quickly, "You had a fight with your friends?" She asked with a tint of shock in her voice. She squinted her brown eyes slightly to look harder at the obvious cut vertically across his cheekbone and the couple of scratches on his jaw along with a forming bruise beneath them.
"No, no," He countered, "Some jackass started a fight with Chad and I defended him and Zeke sort of mentioned that I had a date which I couldn't go to if I looked beat up and then the guy started to say shit about you and," He shook his head, feeling a little ashamed, "And… well, this happened," Troy said, gesturing to his face, "Listen if you don't want to go out with me today, we can do it another time, I know-"
Gabriella interrupted, "No, we'll go today," She gave him a slight smile, "I don't mind. You did it because people were insulting me," She shrugged, "But just so you know, I'd be shouting at you so bad right now if Xavier and Noah were here; they cannot see you like that," She wafted her hand towards his face.
"I know. I'm sorry. Alcohol, male pride and guys talking shit about a woman I'm taking out do not mix well together," Troy said with an apologetic shrug.
Gabriella nodded and then a slow smirk took over her face, "Besides, it's like going out with a bad boy."
Troy let his own smirk develop, "Oh really? Little high school fantasy?" He questioned, teasingly.
Gabriella laughed a little, staying quiet for a moment which made his thick eyebrows shoot up as she failed to deny it.
"You're not denying it!" Troy exclaimed.
"I'm not admitting it either," She shot back with a grin.
Troy rolled his eyes, "Everyone knows that when you don't deny something like that, it's gotta be true," He grinned.
Gabriella rose a single eyebrow and her full lips pouted slightly, giving him a subtly sultry look; smirking at what he was saying.
"That's naughty Montez, very naughty," Troy said while he eyes glazed over at the steady increase of attraction he felt towards the woman in front of him.
As Gabriella collected her belongings from behind the door for the day out, Troy couldn't help but let his eyes appreciate her figure, "Are you ready?" He asked.
"Yeah," She said distractedly; her own eyes appreciating the way his tee shirt stretched across his chest and arms subtly but enough for her to know that he would be getting many of the type of looks she was giving him today.
"Great, let's go," He said excitedly as she stepped outside to him after grabbing her cell phone and an off white, soft, oversized zip up jacket for the evening. Troy had told her it would be easier if she didn't lug a purse around with her all day, telling her she wouldn't need any money and if she really wanted to take some, he would keep it in his wallet that he would keep in his pocket.
Gabriella locked up her house and fell into step with Troy, walking down to the black Audi which Gabriella was surprised he owned.
"I cleaned it yesterday; all for you," He charmed with a large smile.
Gabriella let slip a little giggle at the proud look on his face, "Aw, you look like a fifteen year old boy going on his first date with that smile," She teased as he unlocked the car, opening the door for her, "How very gentlemanly of you, how long will that last?" She smirked.
Troy chuckled, shutting the door before getting in the driver's side, "Firstly," He paused while he pulled on his seatbelt and checked that it was safe to pull out, "I had my first date when I was fourteen and I'm always a gentleman," He smirked at the second part of the statement, looking behind him as he backed out of her drive onto the road.
Gabriella picked up on his facial expression and laughed, "Says the guy who questioned whether we'd have a bath together the first night you came over," She said with a raised eyebrow as she looked at the side of his face, noting the slight stubble and a small cut above his eyebrow that she hadn't noticed before.
Troy chuckled as he put the car into drive and started down the street, "I was just curious," He laughed.
Gabriella grinned, looking out the window, "I haven't had one this week actually," She said, casually.
Troy looked over at her seemingly innocent comment, "No? Maybe tonight you could have an extra long one," He said, one hand on the wheel and one casually laying in his lap.
"That would be so nice, some candles and music and a ton of bubbles," She sighed giving the impression that, that idea sounded heavenly.
"You know how I said I am a gentleman? But the things you are listing off right now are not doing well to keep those images of you out of my head," He said, honestly.
Gabriella's jaw dropped and she slapped his thigh, "You need a filter between your brain and your mouth," She said with a hint of amusement in her voice.
"I thought you wanted an honest guy?" He questioned cheekily.
"Yeah and you're my friend who's gonna help me find one, right?" She joked with a closed mouthed smirk.
Troy reached over and squeezed her bare thigh, making her squeal in surprise, "Oh so I'm like a gay best friend now?"
"I should have known you were gay. You have good hair and good style…" She trailed off, reaching over to pat his shoulder, "It's ok, we'll find you a guy as well today."
Troy playfully attempted to bite her hand that lay on his broad shoulder, "The images going through my head a couple of minutes ago would prove that I am definitely not gay," He looked over at her as she rolled her eyes.
"Filter," Gabriella muttered.
Troy chuckled, "We're in this car for the next two hours so you better start being nice to me, Montez."
Gabriella settled back against the seat, "Or I can choose to ignore you which would be equally as entertaining."
Troy laughed, "You are brutal," He exclaimed.
Gabriella rolled her head to the side to once again take in his side profile and this time rather than noticing his cuts and stubble; she ran her eyes along his strong jawline, his messy hairstyle and soft, slightly plump lips that softened the look of his clean cut facial features. His shoulders were broad and his neck was strong. However, before she could get any further down towards his biceps which she simply wanted to hold her, Troy spoke and glanced at her then smirking, catching her gaze but didn't comment.
"When was your first date?" Troy asked.
Gabriella placed both of her hands on her thighs, examining her nails, "When I was 15."
"Oh yeah? How did it go?" He questioned, stopping at a red light and turning his head to look at her.
"I married him," Gabriella looked over at Troy's surprised expression, "What?"
"I didn't realise you started to date when you were fifteen and then I'm guessing you didn't go on a date for the eight years you guys were together?"
Gabriella shook her head, "Nope, I never did anything that would class as cheating."
Troy smiled softly at her, "I appreciate a loyal woman," He informed her, moving his hand to lay on her thigh affectionately, stroking his thumb across her smooth skin, "And have you been dating since you split up?"
Gabriella shrugged, "It's nearly been two years since we divorced but nearly two and a half since I finished things so I've dated a little, only in the last year really but nothing more than a couple of dates really," She lay her hand over his on her thigh.
Troy nodded and began to move the car forward again, "No relationships?"
"Nope."
"Anything more than a couple of dates?" He asked, thinking her was being coy but Gabriella smirked.
"Yes but just when I went out with some friends when I've been a little drunk and I've gone back with them. I literally have been out clubbing maybe two times in two and a half years," She admitted.
Troy nodded, "Do you not get horny sometimes?" He asked hesitantly.
"Troy," She laughed, "We are not talking about this."
"Ok, fine," He chuckled, "I'm sorry."
Gabriella squeezed his hand and look out of the window, "Have you gotten around?" She asked, looking back at him as she brought her other hand to his to play with his fingers.
Troy shrugged, "I've been single for four years," He announced, "I don't know if you knew but I haven't had a girlfriend since I was 23 so in the sense of a relationship I don't get around but outside of relationships, for example one night stands or you know, friends with benefits kind of situation? Yeah, I used to quite a bit," He cringed, "Just being honest," He tried to joke.
"How much is quite a bit?" She questioned.
Troy licked his lips, "Let's just say I can't count how many girls on two hands outside of relationships."
Gabriella pressed her lips together, "I can count how many on this," She said, holding up three fingers.
Troy smiled widely, "That's incredibly cute," He stroked her outer thigh with his thumb as Gabriella had stopped playing with his fingers.
"Shhh," She tutted, tapping his hand, "So four years is a long time," She mentioned.
"It is," Troy agreed, "I was with the girl for seven months; I loved her so much, I genuinely thought she was it. I had been searching for engagement rings online and had called in to a couple of shops but I started to notice that she wasn't the same anymore and was really sneaky and the next month, she was pictured on a night out hooking up with some trying-to-make-it-big celebrity who apparently should have had his break years ago." He rolled his eyes, "I broke up with her and she told me I couldn't give her what she needed even though my business was doing well. Chad, Zeke and Shar always tell me I try to please my girlfriends too much and I pick the wrong girl; they tell me that I can try to do anything to make the girl happy if she tries to make me happy too," Troy shrugged, "I sorta gave up looking for a while after."
"So while you put your all into a relationship and were planning a future, she decided you weren't good enough for her and took off with some Hollywood wannabe?" Gabriella asked with shock evident in her voice.
Troy nodded slowly as he continued to drive, "Yep, I loved her a lot, I haven't found someone who makes me feel the way she did but I don't approve of cheating and I would never do it myself or get over someone doing it to me. If a girl even kisses another guy when she's with me then we're done period, no going back or second chances," He said firmly.
Gabriella nodded in agreement, "Definitely, I totally agree."
Troy nodded, moving his large palm from her thigh to take her hand in his, pressing a kiss to the back of her it, "Just so you know, I would never hurt you that way," He whispered.
Gabriella smiled softly at him, "Me neither. But let's go find you a guy who won't," She winked at him to lighten the mood.
Troy burst out laughing, lowering their hands to his lap, "You are so in for it when I'm not driving which will be in about twenty minutes when we stop for breakfast. Do you remember when we were talking about how you rush every morning and you hadn't had a huge breakfast for years?" He asked, glancing over at her.
Gabriella was now facing Troy at an angle, her back pressed against the edge of the chair and her hands now lay in her own lap, "Mhm," He hummed in agreement.
"Well we are going all out and having a huge breakfast this morning," He informed with a grin as he put on the blinker to turn and turned the car.
Gabriella grinned at Troy and let out a small squeal in excitement earning an amused look from Troy. They continued to chat casually along the way and only stopping when Troy pulled up outside of a diner which did have a few people in from the time of day. They both slid out of the car and walked over to the door which Troy pulled open and gestured for her to go first.
"Troy Bolton!" An older man shouted with a grin from behind the counter.
Troy looked up just as he placed his hand on the small of Gabriella's back to guide her to a booth. His face split into a large grin and then he looked down at Gabriella and gave her a reassuring smile and they both walked off.
"Hey, how you doin'?" Troy asked, leaning over the counter to give the man a half hug.
Gabriella watched the interaction quietly as Troy chatted to a man who seemed to be around the age of thirty-five and had the start of deepening lines at the outer corners of his eyes. He appeared to be friendly and talkative but he also looked a little rugged and with Troy's banged up face he seemed to fit in well with the older man.
"So who's this little beauty?" The older man asked.
Troy chuckled lightly and nodded his head for her to come closer as giving them time to talk. He watched her walk over tentatively and he placed his hand on the middle of her back; giving it a gentle rub, "Rex this is Gabriella and Gab, this is my friend from colleges older brother, Rex," He introduced.
"Nice to meet ya," He said with a grin and held his hand out to Gabriella.
Gabriella took his hand with a smile, "You too," She smiled widely.
"New girlfriend?" Rex asked the both of them hesitantly.
Troy shook his head, "No, I'm just taking her out for the day," He explained.
"What? Are you gay, boy? She's a beauty, don't let her slipped through your fingers; nice too," He added and winked at Gabriella who was giggling at him.
Troy chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck, "I'll try."
"So what happened to you? You look a little roughed up," Rex commented with raised bushy eyebrows, "Like back in the day, ay?" He smirked.
Troy raised his eyebrows from a split second, "Yeah," He let out a breath with a hint of laughter, "Me, Chad and Zeke went out last night and this guy started something with Chad so I got involved."
Rex smirked, "Typical Troy Bolton," He laughed deeply, "Never were the goody, innocent and stay out of trouble type were you."
Troy winced and shook his head briefly, "No, not really. That's the first time in a while though."
"Good. I guessed so, I had no calls to come save you and Rocco's ass lately," He chuckled, referring to his younger brother who was the same age as Troy.
"Save our asses. Dude, we did it all on our own, you were the guy we called to pick us up," Troy laughed, slowly beginning to get into 'boy' mode.
"Oh please," Rex laughed loudly, "How many times did my girlfriend have to fix you to up so the hospital wouldn't ask questions?" He asked, smirking.
Troy narrowed his eyes, "You took Rocco once though, man, it was close," He shook his head.
"That night was the worst night of my life," He exclaimed.
Troy nodded, "Leah was a life saver though, she was awesome."
"She's now my fiancée," Rex said with a huge grin.
Troy matched his smile, "Congrats man! Rocco never said."
"Rocco doesn't remember shit," Rex chuckled.
Troy gave a nod in agreement, "It was good to see you dude, we'll keep in touch," He smiled.
"Definitely. Just come over when you're ready to order," Rex nodded once.
"Sweet," Troy smiled and turned to look at Gabriella and they both walked to a booth by a window.
Gabriella immediately looked out of it and stayed quiet, her eyebrows furrowed together slightly; giving off the impression that she was in deep thought.
"Hey," Troy called softly, leaning his arm across the table to peel her arms apart from their crossed position.
"What the fuck?" Gabriella asked with a frown, "Who the fuck are you?" She cussed.
Troy frowning face relaxed in surprised at her words, "You have an idea of who I am now, we've spent a little time together," He mumbled.
Gabriella swallowed, "Why the fuck did you need to go to hospital and why wouldn't you go if you needed to before? Why would the hospital ask questions that you didn't want to answer?" She ranted off.
Troy held her hands in both of his on the table and he leant over a little further, "When I was in college, some things got out of hand, ok? Me and a friend, we got into some dodgy shit and more times than not, we needed Leah, Rex's girlfriend to clean us up; she was training to be a nurse," He explained, "But this was when I was twenty-one and everything finished when I was about twenty-two, a few of months before my twenty-third birthday and about 6 months before I met my ex."
Gabriella pulled her hands away and looked out of the window again, "You're being so shady."
Troy closed his eyes briefly, "Listen," He breathed, "Please, do not repeat this," He whispered.
The tone in his voice had Gabriella snap her head back to look at him as he still had his eyes closed.
"I was twenty-one and in college, I had no idea what to do with my life; I was incredibly lost and my friends all seemed to know what they wanted minus Rocco. We started to go out more now we could legally and try… stuff-"
"Drugs?" Gabriella interrupted.
Troy nodded, "Yeah. We did it a lot. We'd turn up to lectures out of it and," He shook his head, "I only did it when we went out which was still a lot and occasionally when I was on my own inside my apartment. I was pretty lonely even though I still everyone around me but I knew they spoke shit about me behind my back; that's when I'd do it on my own when I didn't know who to trust. But Rocco was hardcore addicted; he was struggling for money and had guys knock on his door so many times and he got beat up. I couldn't just leave my buddy, you know. So I helped him, not in the way I should have. I helped him get money together to pay off the debt he was in with so many bad guys and I helped him get money to continue to get more," He shook his head, "I was so stupid. We kept going out, trying to get money together, we got in so many fights. We thought we had such a good time on all this stuff but there so many times we'd wake up and not have a fucking clue where we were. We looked like shit. I remember one time I woke up on the floor of some random living room and there were smashed bottles everywhere, left over drugs and… equipment, there were guys still doing all the stuff they were doing the night before. There was a girl naked next to me and another on the couch. It made me feel sick. I couldn't remember anything. That's probably when I knew me and Rocco were in deep. It wasn't just him who was addicted then; it was me too. That day when I woke up, seeing all that stuff. I just felt like I had to go find Rocco, something in me told me to find her quick and I did and he…" He shook his head pressing the base of his hands into his eyes, "Rex came," Troy coughed, "He took him straight to the hospital. As soon as he came out of the hospital, we both went to rehab and got clean; we got fit and healthy and started to live healthier."
Gabriella was looking at him sadly but she stayed back against the booth, not knowing what to say.
"I wish I would have stopped at helping him to pay everyone back and they sorted us both us before I got that bad and Rocco had to be hospitalised," Troy shook his head, "I'll never stop feeling guilty for what I enabled Rocco get like," Troy let out a unamused chuckle, "Now you know, I can imagine now you don't want me anywhere near your kids."
Gabriella pressed her lips together, "I'm not someone who judges people based on their past and what they have been through. I'm going to stop them speaking to you if they see you on the street, you've been nothing but good to them," She lifted one shoulder up.
Troy nodded with a hint of a smile, "I didn't want to tell you yet. I wanted you to get to know who I am today first and for that not to be tainted by how I was years ago."
Gabriella leant forward on the table of the booth, "I think you were young and didn't know how far to go with helping your friend and by taking it too far, both of you got equally as messed up but you're strong for getting through that and getting clean and you look good today, you seem to work out and I bet you eat good so," She shrugged, "If you're not judging me, why should I judge you for making a mistake and then rectifying it; that's good, not bad."
Troy nodded silently, "You're not freaked out?"
Gabriella smiled a little more, "A little but at least if we get into danger, you know I few moves," She winked, making light of the situation.
Troy grinned at her, "Thank you," He whispered, "I've been worried about telling you since I first came to your house."
Gabriella smiled, "It's not as bad as you thought it was going to be?" She questioned with a hint of hope in her voice.
"At first, I thought you were gonna scream and yell at me and walked out but you let me speak and tell you everything without being judged so I couldn't have wished for anything more," He husked with a feel of romance intertwined in his words.
Gabriella smiled sweetly at him, "Good, I'm glad you approve," She giggled, "How long have you been clean for?"
"Five years last month," He grinned, proudly.
Gabriella giggled at his proud lopsided grin she showed her, "That's amazing."
"Thanks," He said with the same smile, "Now I don't know about you but I'm starving."
/
"So you didn't tell her before, huh?" Rex said as he took the money from Troy to put into the cash register.
Troy frowned for a moment before he realised what Rex was talking about, "Oh. No, she kinda freaked out so I had to explain," Troy told him.
Rex nodded, "Well I'm sorry man, I didn't mean to drop you in it."
"Ah, don't worry about it. I would have had to tell her sooner or later so you made it easy for me to lead into it," Troy grinned to easy the older man's mind, "Even though it is my first actual date with her," He chuckled.
"She seems like a nice girl," Rex smiled down at the younger guy who he had watched grow up and become a man Rex was very proud of.
Troy smiled widely, "Yeah, she's so awesome, she's really chilled."
Rex nodded, "That's good. You're comfortable with her, I see that."
Troy nodded, "I am but I'm trying to impress her at the same time, she hasn't dated much in the past couple of years so I'm trying to give her a reason to stop being single," He admitted.
"Just be you, don't try to be anyone else because if you do get together, you'd have to keep up this fake persona for years and it would drive crazy," Rex advised, "I realised that with Leah, I tried to be someone I'm not and she called me out on it," He smirked.
Troy laughed, "We'll all meet up soon, me, you, Leah and Rocco. Like the old days but a bit more chilled and stable," He chuckled lightly, "Next time I see him, I'll mention it."
Rex laughed, "Definitely, sounds good man. Now go back to your date, she keeps looking over here and if I wouldn't know any better, she's checking you out too."
Troy shook his head and slapped Rex's shoulder in a manly way before walking away back to Gabriella with a smile on his face that rarely wasn't there when she was around.
"You have Rex's seal of approval," Troy smirked as he sat opposite her.
"Oh yeah?" Gabriella smiled, sipping at her strawberry milkshake.
Troy nodded, "Mhm, I value his opinion a lot so you're in luck," He winked.
Gabriella giggled, gently kicking the side of his leg beneath the table, "Dork," She teased, "So tell me about your first date, you said you were 14, right?"
Troy nodded, "Yep. It was with a girl in the grade above and she was best friend's with the most popular girl in school," He smirked, shaking his head just thinking about it, "It was probably one of the most friendly dates I've been on. We literally just made friends and that's it. We went out for smoothies after school and we just sat there and talked about TV shows but then at school she acted as if she didn't know me and laughed at me with her friends," He chuckled, remembering the day after when a smaller Troy had tried to go talk to her after being encouraged by his friends which resulted in being ignored and his ego bruised.
Gabriella giggled at his story, "Aw, little Troy was rejected," She cooed.
Troy nodded with a pending smile on his lips, "Little Troy was a geek until sophomore year of high school when he got into the varsity basketball team," He informed her. It felt good to tell her things about his past as she had told him some very in-depth things about herself and the past few years and after opening up to her about the large secret Troy held, he felt that it was easier now to open up about his whole past; his childhood and school experiences.
"Oh really? So he wasn't always this big tough guy?" Gabriella teased, opening her mouth and stuck her tongue out a little to grasp her straw with no hands.
Troy watched this action and shifted in his seat before his eyes quickly flicked to hers, "No way, I started to work out in my sophomore year and then throughout high school and college. When everything happened, I did less but when I decided to actually live again, I wanted to look my best," Troy enlightened her about his thoughts and feelings of various times of his life.
Gabriella nodded in understanding, "Once you got everything bad out of your body, you wanted to feel the best you had ever felt, right?" She asked.
"Exactly," Troy agreed with a nod.
"How was high school as a jock?" She asked, wanting to know more about his life.
Troy chuckled, "Well the first year of high school I was still known as one of the geeks so when I tried out for basketball, I got laughed at but I got into the team in freshman year and got into the varsity team in sophomore year and became captain junior and senior year and we won state championships in my senior year," He grinned, he couldn't keep away the proud smile from his face. I did theatre to all through high school," He told her.
Gabriella's eyebrows rose, "Wow."
"What?"
"You don't often hear about a basketball captain on stage," Gabriella commented, "I think that's cool."
Troy chuckled, "I was going to stop doing it when I got captain but a girl who I liked got the main part so I tried out and got the part alongside her," He smirked, "You could say I had double intentions," He laughed.
Gabriella swallowed some of her milkshake while laughing and a waiter came along with their food that had Gabriella distracted for a moment, "Did you get together?" She asked.
"Mhm," Troy hummed, chewing on some of his food and swallowing before speaking, "We got together at the end of the spring show in junior year and stayed together all through high school but we split up mid-way through my second year of college."
Gabriella's eyebrows shot up, "That's a long time," She commented.
"Yeah," Troy chuckled.
"What happened?" She questioned.
Troy shrugged, cutting some of his pancakes, "We didn't see each other much and every time we saw each other again it was amazing but when I came home for winter break, we barely saw each other and when we did it wasn't the same so we just ended it mutually," Troy explained, "It's strange isn't; being with someone and talking to them and having to someone there and the next you don't have that," He said, hoping that she felt the same way when she got divorced.
Gabriella nodded, "Yeah definitely but after a while it gets easier and for me now, it's like I've always being this independent, well I always have been, Jake didn't like that much sometimes," She laughed a little, " But yeah, it gets better and easier with time, doesn't it?"
Troy nodded, "Yeah, it's just strange not having someone to turn too but that's when you realise that you can't push away your friends during any relationship."
"Exactly," Gabriella smiled.
Gabriella looked down at her breakfast that was half eaten and she couldn't help the smile that formed over her face as she noticed that the two of them did hold many of the same beliefs about relationships and the surrounding issues. They agreed on independence, importance of friends and time and that was important to her.
/
"Oh my god, Troy!" Gabriella squealed happily as they pulled into one of the many parking lots at six flags theme park.
Troy chuckled as he was guided into a space and put his car into park before he turned to see her excited expression with a huge smile plastered to her face and right then, Troy knew that making her smile this big was a new favourite thing of his to do as all he could do back with grin just a widely.
"Are you excited?" Troy asked, watching her happy but shocked expression on her face as he reached out a hand and pushed some hair away from her face with the backs of his fingertips while she sat on an angle at the edge of her seat.
Gabriella snapped from her surprise and her excited thoughts as his fingertips grazed her cheek and looked into his eyes, "Huh?" She questioned.
Troy's smile grew, "You ready?" He asked, his hand falling from her hair.
Gabriella nodded vigorously in delight, "Yes."
And with that the two of them got out of Troy's car and headed towards the entrance; simply walking side by side as Gabriella returned to the sixteen year old girl who loved to have fun and loved to go to new places and experience new things with people. There was still a part of her that still loved all of those things but they have been limited experiences for her to enjoy outside of her children.
"You having fun in la la land?" Troy teased as they waited in line to hand in their tickets around ten minutes later.
Gabriella looked back up at Troy who was now wearing his sunglasses observing her looking around the huge outside entrance, "Mhm," She hummed, biting down on her plump bottom lip; drawing Troy's attention there.
Troy chuckled as she still seemed to be almost overwhelmed and stunned hence her quietness. He placed his arm around her shoulders and guided her closer to him; her front to his front.
"Thank you, Troy," She said, looking up at him as her hands rested against his sides.
Troy smiled down at her and playfully flicked down her sunglasses, "No problem," He charmed and pressed a kiss to the top of her head as she only just reached his lips in her petite figure.
Gabriella lay her head on his right pectoral and he kept his arm around her shoulders to keep her close.
"It's such a sunny day too," Troy said, moving a long in the line and dropping his arms from her as they reached the people who they showed there tickets too.
"It's the perfect weather," Gabriella gushed, her hand touching Troy's back and rubbing it a little.
Troy looked back at her while the person was stamping his ticket and quickly noticed somebody to the side of Gabriella with their eyes glued to her lower half. He frowned lightly but it went unnoticed as his sunglasses skewed his expressions slightly, "Come on," He ushered, guiding her in front of him as he took back the tickets with a 'thank you'.
"You and the girls should come out with us sometime," Troy suggested.
"Oh yeah? And who would have Xavier and Noah?" Gabriella smirked up to him, "Don't go forgetting I have kids Bolton," She joked.
"Never," He said honestly.
Gabriella tilted her head at his genuine voice, "So you said something about Chad?" She asked to divert the cuteness in the conversation, "Last night on the phone," She prompted.
Troy nodded, "Yeah," he chuckled, "He was determined to find someone Saturday night, he got so drunk; he kept talking about how Zeke's getting married and how I've been seeing you quite a bit this past week and he said he was lonely so he found some girl but freaked the next morning and went home at like 6am," He shook his head as she wouldn't be able to see his eye roll.
Gabriella let out a small giggled, "Oh dear, has Chad ever met Taylor?"
"Taylor?" Troy questioned.
Gabriella nodded, "She's my friend, she lives nearby. She broke up with her boyfriend not too long ago, we should set them up," She said with a grin.
"Sure," Troy shrugged, "The only relationship that seems to be lasting between us all is Sharpay's and Zeke's how crazy," Troy shook his head in disbelief.
Gabriella laughed, "Right."
They continued to walk into the theme park; they walked further into the quite large mass of people for a weekday before the summer. Gabriella subconsciously moved closer to Troy seeking the safe feeling she felt whenever she was with him but the thing she was now starting to realise that not only did she feel safe around him after everything he told her, she felt excited yet nervous of the idea of him and that safeness feeling along with the excitement and unpredictability of the two of them, she was really starting to like. She was also starting to like the feeling of not being 100% comfortable, almost as if he was bringing her true self, the non-mom part of her, that had been hidden for so long out, it kept her on her toes which she always questioned whether she needed but looking over at him when he noticed her moving closer to him and when he smiled genuinely down at her, she knew he was good for her and there really was no point in trying to figure out all of her mixed feelings, she simply wanted it to be natural.
I really hope it was ok, feel free to tell me it wasn't... nicely. Thank you for reading and please review.