Thank you very much for the reviews. They mean the world to us. We proudly present: chapter 10!

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Popular!

Chapter 10.

Troy annoying tapped his fingers against the table, looking at Gabriella, who kept checking her watch every two seconds. It was no wonder, really. The twins were 17 minutes late, so far. Who knew when they'd show up?

"Seriously, Gabby…" Troy moaned, clunking his head into the table several times before stopping because it hurt too much, "Why aren't they here yet?"

"It's not my fault they're late Troy." Gabriella said, furrowing her brow. She was dressed up in the cute outfit that Sharpay had picked out for her. And Troy was sure that when Ryan saw her, he'd freak out.

"Uhm, who's idea was it that we came here?" Troy questioned out loud, not really expecting an answer, "That was yours, I believe." He looked around in the restaurant, "And why are we here, weren't we watching a movie or something?"

"Well, Sharpay and I changed our minds…" Gabriella paused, and bit her lip, "Or actually, Sharpay changed her mind: she said Ryan and I would get more out of the date if we just ate and stuff."

"As simple as that." Troy mumbled, squeezing his eyes tightly, "And when you and Ryan go make out, I'm stuck with the Mountain Lion, thank you very much."

"You know," a voice behind them said, "I've never really figured if I should take that in a negative way or as a compliment."

"Hey Sharpay…" Troy grinned, lifting his head to look at the Evans twins, "And Ryan; you guys are late!"

"No shit, Sherlock." Sharpay mumbled, throwing herself into the seat next to Troy, while Ryan sat down next to Gabriella. Troy felt kinda surprised that she didn't comment on him calling her Mountain Lion, but she was probably so used to it now, that coming from him, didn't mean anything.

Ryan looked at Gabriella, a shy smile playing on his lips. The smile matched hers, he knew, because she was just as shy. He gave her the once-over and his eyes glinted, "You look nice, Gabby." He said, "Very nice."

"Thank you." Gabriella smiled, blushing like crazy. This was all new to her, she had no idea how to act on dates, but she figured it was best just to be herself. "You look nice too." She eyes his hat at giggled slightly, "I like it. A pink hat. You have to be manly to wear that."

"Oh, you don't get it much more manly than me." Ryan said, trying his best to charm himself into the beautiful girl sitting in front of him. He was new in this too. The one with the experience on this table, was Sharpay, and she had enough advices for them to last a lifetime. Most of them were really bad, though, that had already been proved, by the whole Gabriella fiasco, "I'm manly, you know."

Sharpay let out a snigger from across the table, and raised her eyebrow, by the looks she received from the lovebirds, "Manly you say?" she laughed again, "Please Ry, you're more feminine than you're manly. I'm not saying this to hurt you, I'm just telling the truth."

"You know what?" Ryan sad, eyeing his sister evilly, "I suddenly don't feel like double dating with you two weirdoes!" he pushed his chair back, and grabbed Gabriella's hand, "We'll go for a walk. See ya' later."

They headed towards the door, Gabriella trailed behind him, and Sharpay turned to give him one last shout:

"I love you too, Ry! Don't worry!"

Troy laughed, a teasing smile on his lips, when Sharpay turned back to look at him. She broke into a full belly laugh too, and they just couldn't stop themselves. They ended up getting some pretty odd stares from the people surrounding them, but they didn't care. They just had fun.

"Ah, I know it was mean…" Sharpay said, brushing a tear away from her cheek – that's how much she laughed, "But I did feel the need to pick on him."

"It's okay," Troy said, "I understand. He is kinda feminine!"

"Glad we agree," Sharpay just mumbled, studying his face closely. Their make-out session was still clear in her mind, and God! Had she enjoyed that or what? She just didn't know how to approach a talk about it. It was Troy, for God's sake! He wasn't just any guy, he was the school hottie, super bomb.

Troy nodded, and then sat in silence for awhile, just looking at each other. None of them knew what to do next, so it was a good thing, that an overjoyed waitress came to ask for their orders, and Troy ordered a black coffee, while Sharpay decided on a chocolate mocha.

--

Ryan dragged Gabriella quickly after him. He didn't want his sister to ruin the evening he was spending with Gabriella. She had dressed beautifully up for him; he couldn't stop staring at her.

"Where are you taking me?" Gabriella asked, sending him a perfect smile.

"The park." Ryan told her, just as they reached the entrance. He slowed down and turned to look at her, "Are you hungry?"

"A little. We didn't get anything at the restaurant, you know?" Gabriella had to admit.

"Yeah, I know. Do you want a hotdog?" Ryan asked her.

"Sure, it sounds fine to me." Ryan took Gabriella's hand and then they got a hotdog. Gabriella couldn't believe he was holding her hand. It felt like the best thing in the world.

"Two hotdogs." Ryan ordered.

"Here you go." The man said and gave him the two hotdogs. Ryan let go of her hand and Gabriella couldn't help it, but she felt a little down because of it. Ryan gave her one of the hotdogs.

"Sorry for being late, but you know Sharpay. She wanted to look perfect. I think it is weird. I mean it is Troy she had to be with. They can't stand each other." Ryan said after awhile of silence.

"You know what?" Gabriella said and took another bit of her hotdog. Ryan shook his head. "Don't be offended by this, but Sharpay had to teach me how to kiss. So I tried to kiss with Troy and she just broke us up. Then she showed me how to do it with Troy, and they ended out kissing for like 10 minutes. On.my.bed."

"Really?"

"Yeah, they started kissing on the chair. I left because I couldn't stand looking at them. But when I came back to my room, they were lying in the bed, half naked. I had to change my sheets. They were almost doing it." Gabriella said, and put the last of her hotdog in her mouth. Ryan took her hand again, it gave her goosebumbs. She sent him a smile because of it.

"Can I ask you one thing?" Ryan asked, and Gabriella nodded, so he continued, "Why did you have to learn how to kiss?"

She blushed wildly, but decided that she was going to take this risk. She was gonna do it. She took a deep breath, and leaned in, whispering: "So I could do this," and then she placed her lips on top of his. She put her arms around his neck. She could feel his hands on her hips. Ryan stopped kissing her and she opened her eyes, and looked into his blue pools. Their heads were touching each other.

"I love you." Ryan said.

"I love you too." Gabriella agreed.

Ryan dragged them towards the bench and sat down. She just kept looking into his eyes. She couldn't get enough of them. Ryan placed his hand on her cheek, closing his eyes, slowly leaning in for another perfect kiss. Gabriella happily applied, putting her arms around Ryan, starting to play with his hair.

This date was absolutely perfect.

--

"So, how is your chocolate mocha?" Troy ending up asking, trying to start a conversation with her, though he was a bit nervous. It was the first time he really spoke with her, and was alone with her since their make-out session.

"Good. Wanna taste?" Sharpay offered, pushing it nearer Troy.

He looked shortly at her, but then took a sip of it, "Mmmhh... I should have gotten one of those. They are really good." he finished, licking his lip.

Sharpay looked at him, slowly leaning over the table, "You have something on your face." She told him and reached out to remove it.

Troy took her hand and locked his own in it, which cause Sharpay to send him a small smile. Troy took in a deep breath, and decided to do it, "Sharpay, I... I just want you to know that..." he stopped, feeling really insecure for one of the first times in his life.

"Yes, Troy. What is it you want to tell me?" Sharpay said, looking into his ocean blue eyes. The eyes she loved so much.

"Remember when you were about to kiss me at your house?" Troy said.

"Yeah, I do. What about it?" Sharpay asked, wondering where he was going with this conversation. She just hoped he was going, where she wanted him to be.

"Why would you kiss me back then?" Troy finally asked, looking down at their linked hands.

"Uhm, I don't know. I think... No, Troy why are you asking me this?" Sharpay asked, now clearly confused.

"Why? Sharpay, it has been torturing me ever since you kissed me at Gabriella's. I have wanted more. Sharpay, I think I might be in love with you." He looked into her chocolate brown pools, looking for an answer in them.

Sharpay didn't know what to say. Her dream guy had just said that he loved her. There was only one thing to do. Troy, was still trying to find an answer, when her head suddenly started to come closer. He could tell where this was going. Their lips met in a heated kiss.

He let his lips explore hers, not before their tongue's broke the other's lips, and they started a mayor fight inside her mouth. He could feel his heart fluttering, as her hands went into his hair, and his own moved towards her waist. He knew he'd kissed her before, but this was just mind-blowing. They pulled apart, breathing heavily, as their eyes locked, and smiles erupted on their faces.

There was only one more thing to ask…

"Will you be my girlfriend?" Troy breathed, hoping with all his heart that she would.

"Yes…" Sharpay quickly said and moved in for another kiss.

There you have it, guys. We hope this chapter was worth the wait! We enjoyed writing this, and thanks for all the support. Please remember to leave us a review, because next chapter is the last – the epilogue.

Toodles, Noukka and Stessa.

Peace out!