Don't speak,
I'm dying cause I know it all.
Don't leave,
he's only gonna let you fall.
I'm here,
you know that you can have it all.
Take me,
I'm never gonna let you fall.
The Love That Left You to Die--Metro Station

"Nervous?" Taylor asks as her and Chad are in her room and it's just hours away from the first basketball game of the season. It had been pushed back since it was scheduled to be held a week later since the accident, but with Ryan still in the coma and the boys who were close to him running around like zombies with little sleep, the coach rearranged it for one time only to be played on a Wednesday instead of a Friday.

"Me? Nervous?" Chad made a 'pft' sound. "When have I ever been nervous?"

Taylor sends him a pointed look. "So you're totally calm? Not even thinking of the game whatsoever? Even if the other team showed up right now, you'd be ready?"

"Do they give you a twenty minute warm up time?"

"Nope."

"Doesn't matter then. I'd still be ready." Chad says as Taylor sends him another pointed look, and he caves. "Maybe just a little bit nervous."

Taylor grasps his hand. "You're gonna do great."

Chad and Taylor share a smile. A smile that shows silently just how much the other one means to each other. A smile that shows how appreciated they make the other one feel. A smile that shows just how much the two have come from being acquaintances, to friends, to now two people who are dating.

"Yeah. I am."

"Dude, what about you and Kels? How do you know she's not dating some other girl?" Zeke asks as it is just Troy, Jason, Gabriella, and him in the lobby of the guys' dorm.

Jason looks up from looking at the current guest list of Ryan's party and narrows his eyes on Zeke. "Not all girls do that."

"Touché." Zeke says. "But you know that's different since you and Kels just started going out. Taylor and I were…we basically were fucked since the beginning."

Gabriella stays oblivious to the whole conversation as she was just there to pick out the party invitation styles. Taylor is her best friend, and even though she has made bad choices in the past, Gabriella still supports her and whoever she's with. She isn't going to get in the middle of it.

"You guys do know that there's no way that we're gonna be able to send out invitations to EVERYONE in time for this thing on Saturday. I don't even know why I'm bothering to pick out a design." Gabriella sighs as she leans back and rests her tired head on Troy's shoulder. "I should be doing homework." She moans as Troy rubs her shoulder.

"Shhh!" Jason hisses. "No talk of homework allowed."

"I think we're all behind in that area." Troy comments lazily while his eyes flick over the book of invitation designs. "How about instead of sending out invites, we just do it modernly and use the internet? I bet Tay has everyone's e-mail in the student handbook. We all know that she likes to keep that thing."

It was true. Every new school year, the kids at registration are given a book with everyone's e-mails and room numbers in it. But barely anyone ever kept it.

"I mean, the Head Master did say that everyone is welcomed, so just fill out one e-mail and send it out. Bam! It's done in five seconds." Troy concludes.

Jason and Zeke look at each other. Zeke isn't up for working with Taylor on that little project, and Jason just doesn't want too. "Okay then. It's decided. You, Troy Bolton, can work on the invite." Jason announces.

"No way! I just came up with the idea. There's no way that I'm getting stuck with people asking me questions and the R.S.V.P's." Troy states. "No way."

"Exactly. You came up with it, so you can do it." Zeke concludes as it was finalized.

"Are you going to do anything?" Troy asks incredulously to Gabriella.

Gabriella smiles sheepishly. She doesn't want to get stuck with four hundred kids e-mailing her; telling her whether they can or can not go. "You asked for it babe."

"You're lucky you're cute, or else I wouldn't be here."

Jason rolls his eyes disgustingly. "I was never like that with her, was I?" He whispers to Zeke as Troy and Gabriella are off in their own world.

"…Maybe." Zeke admits quietly.

Jason shudders, "Okay you two, break it up!"

Troy glares at him good heartedly. "At least I have a girlfriend."

"Which brings us back to; ask Kelsi out already!"

"We do go out." Jason says defensively.

"Make it official then dude. You know you want too." Zeke encourages.

"She really does like you Jase." Gabriella adds.

"Whatever. I'll think about it."

Truth is, Jason hasn't had a serious girlfriend since Gabriella.

"I am so sorry." Kelsi apologizes as Jason opens the door right away.

Jason's face shows surprise as he wasn't expecting a disheveled Kelsi to come pounding on his door; to apologize nonetheless. He didn't see her the night before like they planned, but it was all okay with him as he knew that he was going to see her after the game and they could talk.

"Hey there." Jason greets with a charming boyish glint in his eye. "What brings you here?"

Kelsi stands there with her mouth open in shock, and her eyes wide. "…You're not mad?" She asks in astonishment.

Jason blinks, "Mad?"

"Yeah, mad. I totally forgot last night, and then I didn't come here for planning of Ryan's homecoming." Kelsi explains further as she purposely forgot to say that she was with Ryan when she was forgetting those other things.

Jason grins. "It would've been nice for a heads up or a call from you, but I managed for one day by myself. It's all good." The thing that is keeping him so calm is the fact that Kelsi feels like she has to apologize, and that she truly looks and sounds sorry.

"Sorry. I meant too, but--"

He holds up his hand in a stopping motion. "Don't worry about it," he cuts in. "Sharpay told me all about it. You had an emergency drama meeting, and you're gonna have to have more rehearsals than usual now since Ryan is out of the show."

Kelsi blinks now as she looks like a fish out of the water. "Sharpay…um…Sharpay told you that?" She gulps. How much does Sharpay know?

Jason nods his head. "Yeah. Actually, she kind of stabbed me with her long and sharp nails first to get my attention, but eventually I listened and she explained everything. Ms. Darbus held you guys late last night, right?"

Kelsi can go two ways. She can explain to Jason that she was with Ryan the whole time remembering past events and just talking like two people who were super close, or she can tell him that Sharpay is right. That she was at rehearsal.

"Um…" She doesn't want anymore trouble. She really, REALLY likes Jason, and she doesn't want to give him a reason to dislike her just because she's talking to an old friend. "Yeah. Sharpay and Ms. Darbus held us late last night. It was so boring."

Jason smiles as he steps closer to her. "Well then. I think I have something that will cheer you up." He connects their lips together and soon everything Kelsi was thinking about before-- Ryan, soccer, drama, and schoolwork-- they all disappear, and it's because of Jason.

"What do you mean you're coming?" Troy asks nervously as he holds the piece of technology closer to his ear; as if he heard wrong.

"Don't be nervous honey. It's just for the weekend." His mother's calming voice spoke clearly on her head set of a phone, as Troy can also hear his father's rough breathing as he is on the second Bolton household phone of the estate.

"We want to see just how good you're doing for basketball. And what better way than to see your second game?" Jack Bolton asks with optimism that usually is rarely heard; unless you are apart of his family or close circle of friends.

"Good luck on tonight's game too honey. We really wished we could come." Lucille coos.

Troy feels like his throat is going dryer and dryer as the seconds past. "No, uh…no problem mom. When are you getting here?" He demands quickly as he mentally pulls out a map in his mind.

"On Friday morning, but we won't come to see you until Friday night for a nice family dinner. We'll see your game Saturday as you can give us the grand tour Saturday afternoon, and then we'll leave Sunday afternoon; right after our Sunday brunch with you." Lucille explains as if Troy will have all this free time.

Jack coughs uncomfortably. "You can uh…even bring your girlfriend…uh…Sharpie?" Troy rolls his eyes as Jack made it quite clear that he doesn't like Sharpay's parents that much, and in relation to that, he could never quite get Sharpay's name right.

"Sharpay." Troy corrects right away. "And uh…we kind of broke up." He can picture his dad's smile widening to a full out grin as his mother is probably frowning. For some reason, Lucille does like Sharpay.

"We're so sorry honey. That makes this trip extra special then." She says chirpily; as if masking her true feelings.

"Actually," Troy clears his throat. "I have a new girlfriend."

"Oh?" Jack asks with raised eye brows.

"Yeah. You guys remember Gabriella Montez, right?"

"This is YOUR future!" The Coach's voice echoes throughout the locker room. He holds up a bright orange basketball that has only ever been touched by him due to the fact that it's new.

Almost all the boys in the locker room can hear the roar of the crowd out in the stadium.

The Coach's black and beady eyes look at each boy with a hardness that only comes out on game days.

"This is what I want you thinking about right now! YOUR future, and how that incorporates this basketball!" He paces a little as his powerful voice goes through each boys' mind. "And if you can't see this ball?…Then get out of my locker room and gym!"

No one makes a move.

"We have worked long and hard for this waiting game! Are we gonna let that other team take our win away?!"

"No!" Every boy screams.

"Are we gonna let them humiliate us in OUR gym?!"

"No!"

"Are we gonna WIN?!"

"Yes!"

"Hands in boys." The Coach calls as he puts out his hand and every boy stands up to be a part of this little huddle before they face their first opponents of the season.

Troy and Chad both look up as Chad's hand is the second hand on top, and Troy's hand is on the very top. They nod once to each other before the Coach starts yelling.

"On Three!"

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"TEAM!" The male voices can be heard from outside the locker room.

This is it. This is the first game that could lead to Troy's future, and it's just hitting him.

Throughout the time that school started and the very first basketball game, the twelve boys on the varsity team worked their hardest. They only had three to four practices a week, but they practiced longer than other schools with the way that their school is set up. On one of the sometimes three or four nights they practice they would go to the weight lifting room where either the baseball, or football team was. They would pair up and work together for at least an hour for that practice; as on other days by themselves, the boys were expected to go by themselves when there wasn't practice. The coaches wanted them ready for this game against the Bulldogs.

The Davidson Academy Wildcats always start their sport seasons off with playing against the Bulldogs in their home court. And half the time they always lose. The Bulldogs are another boarding school, and they also are very competitive. They are the Wildcats second biggest rivals as their first biggest rivals is a boarding school in the same big city--The Knights.

But usually as the basketball players battle it out on the court, they always come up with a win. They play their hardest, using their knowledge of what they learn in practice, and bring it to the playing field. They use the Coach's plays that are strategically created to get around the Bulldog's defense.

It is really a site to see as you're sitting in the crowd. No matter who is playing, even if it wasn't your team, you would be awe struck. Watching five boys work together in perfect harmony to pass around a simple orange ball as the clock is ticking down, and their bodies are sore…it is just a perfect moment as someone does something extra good, and they get to make a basket.

Gabriella is one of those people. Before when she wasn't with Troy she would still go to their games since he was her friend; along with most of the guys on the team, but now as his girlfriend she is paying special attention to him. She watches what his body is doing, how his facial expressions look and represent what he's feeling even more, how his eyes narrow when he's thinking real hard as the Bulldogs score on them. She can tell that he's secretly making a mental note of how to stop the opposing team the next time.

She was mesmerized instantly when she took front row seat in the hard bleachers. She is surrounded by fans of the Wildcats as they stand for all of the game; shouting, yelling, cheering, doing all the crazy cheers along with the cheerleaders, and Gabriella joined in. She is one of the crazy fans now as she can't even remember a time that she was this pumped up. She can feel just how excited he is when he makes a basket. She can feel how frustrated he is when he messes up. She can feel the happiness radiating off of his body when he makes his free throws and he looks directly at her.

So when the final buzzer goes off and the Wildcats are up 65-59 everyone in the stands practically rushes down and greets the ecstatic boys. Gabriella is one of the first ones rushing onto the court due to the fact that she didn't have to hop down steps or seats, and she runs to Troy right away.

Troy's busy wiping his forehead with the hem of his red jersey. He has a smile on his face as two small arms wrap around his hot skin and he instantly knows who they belong to. In all the games he has played in, Sharpay has never rushed down to greet him, and when she's gone and doesn't even attend the games, she never bothered to even talk to him about it, and within the three years that he has played on the Wildcats team, he has always been envious of the guys who have had girlfriends greet them.

He used to watch some of the guys dedicate their free throws to a certain female in the stands. Even if they just glanced at someone in the stands; they knew that the basket was dedicated to them, and Troy was always jealous of that. But now that Gabriella and him are dating, he doesn't have to be as he has someone to do that with now. And it feels good.

He smiles warmly as he turns around and looks down at his wonderful girlfriend. "I am so proud of you! Congratulations Troy!" Gabriella exclaims over the crowd's roar.

Various people pass them as they all pat him on the back and rush to other people who are more capable of talking. Shoulders bump, people yell, kids are rushing past everyone in a blur as the excitement for the game heightens, but yet…Troy and Gabriella are the only two there as they block out various images and people.

Gabriella jumps up and into Troy's arms as he twirls her around. He's all sweaty. He probably smells from playing in the game. He also is squeezing her extra tight. But Gabriella doesn't care.

"I told you so. You are my good luck." Troy mumbles against her cheek as he presses his lips to the soft skin. They hadn't really shown any PDA before besides of hugging, and kisses on the cheeks. Troy had to refrain himself from doing anything more with her as he doesn't know what Gabriella thinks of PDA yet.

"No." Gabriella disagrees. "You did this by yourself. It was all you and your team."

Because deep down, Gabriella knows that someday she won't be there for Troy to say that too. But she doesn't want to think about it as she lets her mind be taken away with the feeling of Troy's arms encircling her waist.

"Come here." She murmurs as she slowly leads Troy's head down to connect their lips in a soft kiss.

Originally it was just Jason and Zeke planning Ryan's homecoming party. But as the days past, Kelsi joined the group as it had become a regular thing where she would go to the hospital in between different classes, schoolwork, and hanging out with Jason. It had been so regular that whenever she was around Jason lately, he would always be with Zeke planning, so she was forced to listen, and just decided to voice her opinion on matters to what she knew Ryan would want and like. Then as the three of them realized just how hard it was to plan everything, from inviting guests to ordering food, to making sure that it was teacher appropriate, Gabriella volunteered her and Troy to help.

But as they decided on what time of the day to have his coming home party, they all realized that it was almost impossible for most of them to be there at the time the Head Master wanted to host the part at--7:00 p.m. That was where Chad and Taylor came to help as there was the first soccer game that night at that time. The second basketball game was at that time. Then there was also baseball and tennis practice early in the morning. All together only Taylor from their small group could be there from the start of the party to the end as the others would be coming late.

That is what the group is discussing as they sat in the boys' dorm room where people were filtering in and out.

"I guess I can ask the coach to rearrange the game?" Troy suggests as you can hear his reluctance in the tone he uses.

Gabriella pats his knee as she is currently curled into his side with his one arm draped over her shoulder. "No. You're first game was rearranged last time because of the accident, you shouldn't have to do that again. I'll just ask my coach about moving the game to a different time."

"Isn't it too late to do any of these? The games are tomorrow. The food gets here in the afternoon. The guests start to show up at 6:30. And we still only know that Taylor is going to be here for sure. We waited to long for this guys." Kelsi says.

"She's right. The only thing we can do is come late to the party that we're throwing for him. It might not be the best thing, but it's gonna just have to happen. We'll play in the games and win, and then we'll come to party and celebrate everyone's health." Jason says optimistically.

"Um…" Gabriella picks at the couch cushion that she's sitting on. "I hate to bring this up, but…has anyone talked or spoken to Emma?"

"The last I heard was that after the accident, her parents sent for her to come home for some recuperation time. Even though she wasn't the one in the coma, they still wanted her home after this." Kelsi tries to keep the bitterness out of her tone. A part of her still blames Emma for this; even though it is furthest from her fault. But yet she's the one who was in the accident with Ryan, and only received a fractured wrist and got to go home, as Ryan's parents barely even talked to him yet; let alone come to offer support.

"She is coming back, right?" Gabriella asks as she thinks about Sharpay's feelings and how that would effect her.

"Her stuff's still here. She has to be coming back." Taylor reassures her.

"Good. That's good."

"So Troy, we have had like almost every R.S.V.P for tomorrow. Do we have enough food?" Taylor asks as even though it was Troy's job for the guest list, he told everyone to talk to Taylor about it. Taylor very unhappily allowed him to keep doing that so by Friday night, she is the one who has the guest list, and not Troy.

"Um…that is Zeke's department." He doesn't realize it until he says it that maybe putting Taylor and Zeke together tomorrow morning to discuss last minute preparations isn't such a good thing. "But just give me the number of guests, and I'll take care of it. You have tennis tomorrow morning anyways."

A clearing of the throat brings the gang out of discussion and they all turn to see Sharpay standing behind the couch.

The gang all swivels their heads around to look at her as she has her hip popped out with a hand resting on her skinny side.

"Are you guys talking about Ryan's party?" She demands.

Taylor and Chad are the closest to her seeing as she is standing behind them, and everyone else is just waiting for someone else to answer.

"Uh…yeah." Chad speaks up.

Gabriella would have answered Sharpay, but she is momentarily stunned as she is currently cuddled up to Troy--a sitting position they do all the time now--but this has been the first time that Sharpay will have seen Gabriella with Troy. She had been pretty occupied with Ryan's heath than to notice her roommate with her ex-boyfriend.

Gabriella scoots a little further away from Troy as Troy hides the hurt that crosses his face, and lets his arm fall off of her body. He isn't completely stupid and mean to realize that it might hurt Sharpay still. He doesn't know how much Sharpay's feelings about him can change over just a couple of weeks.

"Do you want to help Sharpay?" Gabriella asks softly.

Sharpay holds her head high as it is clearly obvious to her that they had been planning it for a while and they very intently decided not to tell her.

"No. No I would not." Her voice doesn't show any signs of being hurt. "I just heard about it through some of the drama kids. I just assumed the invitation is open for anyone. So I'm here to tell Troy that I am coming."

Silently everyone pieces together that Troy never sent one to Sharpay.

"Me?" Troy asks in clear surprise. "Why me?"

Sharpay eyes narrow. She specifically on purpose avoided him at the hospital for the two weeks, and it is taking all of her confidence to stand in front of him and manage to talk without giving away the little hurt that's left.

"You are the one who is inviting people, are you not?" She asks through gritted teeth.

"I am." He answers meekly.

"Well then, since I didn't receive any formal invite; this is my R.S.V.P." Sharpay states. "If it's not acceptable, then I can write it down on a paper towel and slide it under your room door. Or maybe I can find a used napkin and write down my R.S.V.P with lipstick. How does that sound?" She demands as it shows just how upset she is about not receiving a proper invite like everyone else through an e-mail.

"No." He wants to be swallowed by the couch he's sitting on. "You don't have to."

"Fine. Then deal with this R.S.V.P and be happy about it Bolton." With that she storms out as the only sound after her departure is the door slamming.

A silent moment is taken before Zeke rolls his eyes and swats Troy with a pillow in the leg. "Dude, I can't believe you forgot to invite his SISTER!"

Troy rolls his eyes as he mentally notices that Gabriella hasn't moved back and into his side. "I'm sorry. I was kind of busy with the other four hundred kids to invite; plus TEACHERS!" He defends.

"I gave you all the e-mails. Sharpay's name is in there." Taylor exclaims.

"Well sorry that I skipped over my ex-girlfriend. I didn't try to do it on purpose. It just slipped my mind for a moment. Plus it's not like I asked for this job. I told you I'd mess up some how."

"Whatever. It's done with. She's coming, and she knows about it. So what?" Chad says in a casual tone. "If she has a problem, then she can take it up with someone who cares."

"You okay Kels?" Jason asks quietly so no one else hears as the others diverge into some other topic besides Sharpay finally.

Kelsi breaks out of looking at the door that Sharpay stormed out of as she feels Jason's hand connect with her own. She looks at him with guilt in her eyes for a second before blinking once to rid of it.

"Uh…yeah. She just seemed really upset."

"She'll deal. It's not like she found out tomorrow. It could've happened to anyone." Jason says nonchalantly also.

Kelsi still looks unsure. "…I guess."

As Kelsi is feeling this unusual feeling toward Sharpay as it's a hidden trust for what the blonde did for her; it's natural to feel bad towards the person she owes something too. But as Jason put it, it could've happened to anyone who didn't receive an e-mail, and it was bound to happen due to they put Troy in charge of inviting four hundred people. One was bound to slip the list. But on the other side of the room Gabriella is still looking ahead of herself and away from everyone else as she can't rid her mind of Sharpay's hurt look that swept across her face for a mere second.

"You okay?" A husky whisper asks from behind.

Gabriella looks up as she didn't even notice that Troy moved from the couch to standing behind her as she can faintly hear Chad, Jason, and Zeke now discussing what kind of cake to make.

Looking into his dark blue eyes makes her realize that she can't lie to him. Ever since earlier in the week; something just clicked. Something clicked in her mind that this is their senior year. Pretty soon college stuff would be coming up. And she actually has someone else besides herself to consider, and then the question of 'will they be together?' came into her mind.

Gabriella realized that they possible won't always have each other to rely on; so why is she letting herself rely on him right now, when in the near future she won't have anyone? It hurts her to think that she won't be able to see Troy. So how can she after junior year, put herself through more heartbreak? Because that is what she's setting herself up for again. She's gonna hurt all over again, and she feels guilty for letting Troy believe that she is okay.

"…No. I'm not." She whispers as his calloused fingers play with a couple of her long curls.

"Anything I can help you with?" He knows how independent she is. He knows how important it is to give her space when she needs and wants it.

Looking into his eyes, they remind her of how proud she felt when she saw his first basketball game of the season. They show her love, compassion, and trust. And that's more than enough to make Gabriella know that she can deal with this on her own. It's HER guilt that's eating HER up on the inside; not his.

"…No. Thanks though."

She reaches up to his hand that's resting on the back of the couch and squeezes it lightly.

"Love you."

He smiles down at her and presses a kiss to the top of her head. "Love you too."