Crystal Balls and Magic Mirrors...
Author's Note – Thank you so much for the reviews of the last chapter, and also thanks to those who put it on story alert and PM'd me. I appreciate all of you taking the time to read this.
I'm glad that you guys liked the characterisation, and like the concept of this as I have tried to keep them as 'in character' as possible so that it at least looks like it could fit into HSM canon as they grow up. This is the second part and again, the italics are from the section it relates to in All The King's Horses but, I promise, it's not necessary to read that to get this. I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think. Thanks again.
Disclaimer – I own nada
I would often just watch you while you slept, tracing your features, watching your eyelashes flutter, the way you would breathe, the occasional murmur of my name...it was fascinating for me. You caught me at it more than once, and loved to tease me, but I know you did it too. I don't know how many mornings I woke up to find a strand of my hair wound round your finger, or saw your blue eyes looking down at me.
The light began to shade through the curtains in the small bedroom, bathing the room in a pale glow. The room was silent for the most part, and the only movement was the fluttering of the breeze from the window against the drapes. Troy Bolton had no idea what time it was, but at this moment in time he didn't really care. He knew he had work later in the day, but that could wait – in fact as far as he was concerned, right at this moment time could stop condemning him to a lifetime of staying in this position in this room and he would welcome it.
Troy sighed and tried to adjust himself quietly as he regretfully pulled back slightly from the warm body that was nestled into his side. He didn't want to move too far away, just far enough so that he could look at her properly. He smiled as she unconsciously reached for him as she felt him adjust and grinned as she seemed content when she found his hand, laced their fingers together and brought it to her lips without opening her eyes or even coming close to consciousness.
It was little things like this that meant that he often woke up before dawn regardless of his plans for the day. It was actually funny how much his life had changed for the better in the last two and a half years because he never thought he would be the guy he was today. His sixteen year old self would mock him mercilessly for being as sappy as he is now, but he didn't really care and he knew for a fact that his seventeen year old self would understand completely. It was amazing how one moment; one second could completely change a person's life. At sixteen all he could see in life was basketball. He barely dated, and the dates he did go one were few and far between and definitely singular. All he concentrated on was passing his classes and practice and life had been simple and easy, and although it was a little dull, and a little empty, he hadn't really noticed. Then one New Year's Eve his mother all but marches him into a kid's party and bang! As loud as any firework he meets the love of his life and suddenly life is...diverse, colourful, interesting and full.
He smiled as he leant over to her ear and whispered. "We're soaring, flying..."
He pulled back and waited and sure enough a smile tugged at her lips as she tightened her grip on his hand and sighed her reply drowsily. "There's not a star in heaven we can't reach..."
He fought back the urge he always got when he did this to kiss her senseless and instead squeezed her hand back before placing it against his lips. She would kill him if she knew that he did this so often, but they had an understanding – he wouldn't mention her tendency of staying awake long after they went to bed so she could watch him, and she in turn would not mention his tendency of getting up early for the same reason. It was just their thing and although they both knew the other one did it, they were still embarrassed about it. No one wants to dwell on the fact that they are completely whipped by another person, even when they know they are.
They had been in California a year together and he could hardly believe it had gone in so quickly. It had been a difficult and eventful year for the both of them yet somehow they had come through it stronger than ever. Being 32.7 miles away had been great in theory, but with never-ending basketball practices, classes, study groups and work, sometimes they went days without seeing each other in the beginning. It had been hard being out there on their own when all they wanted was to be with each other, but they had made it through and after Gabriella had insisted on learning to drive they found a way to maximise their time together during the hectic weeks which involved a cafe happily located fifteen miles from Berkley where the two would meet each day for breakfast, or night for dinner. The stress also seemed to alleviate substantially when the pair of them made some difficult decisions regarding their courses and ended up switching during Christmas vacation their first year. He sighed as he brought his hand down to stroke her wrist tenderly. How had he thought it possible to star in a show without her by his side, or without his friends behind him? Impossible.
"Mmmm, Troy..." she murmured causing him to smile at her tone.
"What is it, babe?" he asked his sleeping girlfriend softly.
"Shhh," she murmured. "It's a surprise..."
"What's a surprise?"
"The tickets," she groaned as her brow furrowed in her sleep. "'sok. I'll find them before the game..."
"Well, where do you think they are?"
"In my book," she muttered. "You never look in there..."
He suppressed his laughter as he stroked her cheek. "I won't look, I promise."
"'k. Love you," she sighed as she cuddled closer to him, falling back into a deeper slumber.
He grinned, the tickets were probably the tickets she had bought for them to go and see the Lakers play. Troy hadn't known about them, only for her to present him the envelope over breakfast with a smile, saying she had got him them as a surprise because she was so proud of how well he had played during the Championships. He had never thought it possible, but that night at the basketball game he had actually managed to fall more in love with her watching her cheer, and laugh, and make faces as they just enjoyed an evening of being together without time constraints, or rushing off, or phone calls. Watching games had always been engrossing for him, and this should have been more so considering he was watching the freaking Lakers live, but he constantly found his attention on his girlfriend – watching her watch the game and, to be honest, it was perhaps the best basketball experience of his life. Every aspect of it – from their flirting, to the game, to the messing around with the old guy behind them who had insisted on loudly bad mouthing the latest young Hollywood superstar and his famous girlfriend for being too affectionate on the floor seats. Chad couldn't believe that she had bought him the tickets, but then couldn't understand how he had been in the stadium and hadn't paid attention to every minuscule detail of the experience. He had paid attention to all the details that had mattered – the way she had dissolved into giggles when he had teased her about the old guy, the way she leant her head on his shoulder when it was half time, the way she had cheered when a team scored, the way she had kissed him and asked him if he was having a good time...
He had no idea why it was running through her head at this moment, but from experience he knew that the most random moments popped into her head at night, like the time she started rhyming off the answers to a math problem at 3am, or when she started reliving an argument with Taylor for saying something about 'first crushes' to when she was trying to decide what food to order at the restaurant. Her brain was far more disorganised at night than it ever would be during her waking hours and he was the only person on the planet who was aware of it.
Once she had settled down he propped himself back up and began playing with her hair again, thinking about what he had been thinking about for the past year. He loved her, more than anything and he knew she loved him as much and it was a given that this was it for him. He had absolutely no inclination to even consider himself with anyone else and he was pretty certain that she was of the same thinking. He knew they weren't your stereotypical teenagers – they got together with the knowledge that if they took that step then they were effectively ending their dating experience. They hadn't even had to discuss it, it was just a given – something about them just clicked with the other and it was just meant to be, simple. You could call it fate, destiny, kismet or whatever the hell else you could think of but it all boiled down to one simple fact and that was that Gabriella Montez was made for Troy Bolton, the same way that Troy Bolton was made for Gabriella Montez. Simple, easy, done.
It didn't even scare him either, which is what so many people had a hard time accepting. How could he want just one girl when he could have so many? He couldn't understand why anyone would want so many when they could have her. Even his parents were trying to encourage him to 'play the field' a little but they didn't get that he had everything he could ever want with Gabriella. She was smart, and beautiful. She could laugh with him and at him and she was his. No one would ever see her the way he saw her – no one would see her turn from shy braniac, to fiery temptress and back again. No one else would feel the way his skin tingled when she placed her lips against it, or the way his heart would race when she smiled at him. No one would understand how amazing it felt just to lay here with her like this, to be able to touch her and hold her, and it would be impossible for anyone to comprehend how right everything felt when she was with him and how wrong everything felt when she wasn't. No one could ever understand it and he felt a little sorry for them, but he wasn't going to dwell on it. He wasn't going to apologise for being happy.
He reached over and brought his lips to her head and inhaled the scent of her shampoo. He was in love with the scent of her hair – it lingered on his pillows, his clothes, his shoulder and he couldn't get enough of it. He didn't want to think of the next few months where they would be back in their own separate apartments closer to their own campus and it was back to twenty minutes here and there. He needed more than that this year. He needed her all the time.
Deciding he couldn't wait any longer he slunk down on the pillows a bit until he was level with her and gently, so gently extracted his hand from her grasp so he could brush his hand down her mostly bare back. As his hand caressed the smooth skin he leant close and pressed his lips against hers softly, once, twice until on the third he felt her kiss back softly. He pulled back slightly and saw her lashes flutter.
"Gabriella," he whispered. "Open those eyes for me, beautiful."
She sighed and attempted to cuddle closer to him and for a second he considered just letting her sleep, but he knew that if he didn't do this now he would never do it. He leant in again and pressed his lips against hers once more, kissing her until he felt her smile against his lips. When he pulled back this time he saw her heavy lids open slowly, and she flashed him a drowsy grin as she looked up at him. "Mmmm, good morning to you too, Wildcat..."
"It is a good morning, isn't it?" he grinned as he leant down to press his lips to hers again, causing her to giggle sleepily as she turned over so she was looking up at him. "A good morning that came after an unbelievable night, during an incredible summer where we got to see each other any time we wanted..."
When he pulled back this time she yawned before smiling as she reached up and ran a hand through his mussed up hair. "It's really unfair how good you look in the morning. It makes it very difficult to think of doing anything but lying here with you all day."
"Maybe we should take that as a sign that we should just stay in bed more," he grinned as he caught her hand and pressed a kiss to her open palm before trailing his lips up to her wrist, which always made her sigh. "Because, believe me, the feeling is entirely mutual..."
She smiled and sat up, pulling the sheet with her to cover herself as she looked at him. It was amazing to him how modest she always was in the morning – he didn't get why she felt self conscious about her body, especially as they had both seen each other in every state of undress many, many times and it didn't seem to matter how many times he told her she was beautiful, her first reaction was always to cover herself.
"What time is it?"
He shrugged as he smirked at her, tugging the sheet lightly, causing her to let out a small squeal as he quickly rolled over the top of her, his arms braced either side of her head. "Too early for modesty."
She rolled her eyes playfully as she looked up at him. "It's always too early for modesty for you, Mr Bolton. If you had your way we would both walk around naked all day."
He gasped dramatically and brought a hand to his heart. "You wound me. You make me sound like a crazy, horny, sex crazed nymphomaniac."
"No, not crazy," she giggled as she reached up and kissed him, quickly flipping them over so she was straddling him and looking down at him. "What am I going to do with you, Wildcat?"
"Anything you want, I am entirely easy and open to anything at this moment in time. Especially if it keeps us in this position," he joked as she rolled her eyes before she leant over and kissed him softly, allowing his hand to trail softly down her body, trying to readjust her body so she was laying against him. She took the hint and moved down slightly until she could rest her head against his shoulder and allowed him to move slightly so she could lie against him, half her body draped over his and his arm around her holding her against him. He sighed and kissed her again, revelling in the feelings flying around their heads about each other.
"I love you," she murmured against his lips, blushing slightly as she said it. It was another thing he never understood – for whatever reason when they were in bed she would always blush when she told him she loved him. It was strange because she could say it over dinner, or after a game, or on the phone okay – yet without fail when they were in bed she would always tinge a slight shade of pink when she uttered it.
"I love you too," he responded as he ran his finger over her flushed cheek. "Always."
Her eyes closed at the contact as she leant next to him and cuddled into him tighter.
"Actually, that's kinda what I woke you for," he continued softly, stroking her hair and her back, skipping over her bra strap and back up again while she drew small symbols on his bare chest.
She lifted her gaze up from his shoulder to look at him. "You okay?"
He smiled softly and nodded, but kept his gaze on hers, trying to get a good read on her face. "I'm great. I just...where do you see yourself, say – five, ten years down the line?"
She sat up slightly, but he kept his arm around her, unwilling to let her leave his embrace fully. "Is this a trick question where I answer honestly and then you freak out and everything goes weird?"
"Unless you're telling me you see yourself married to some other guy then I swear, no freak out will be forthcoming."
She giggled and shook her head as she looked at him. "Like that is something you really need to worry about."
"You never know," he replied as he looked at her. "You could meet this hot, smart, perfect guy and run off, elope and leave me. I would become a drunk, my promising basketball career would be a write off and I would die alone and miserable thinking back to how happy I used to be while you're off having a dozen kids all called Jefferson, Octavius and Brown and names like that while your husband is swimming in his first million like Scrooge McDuck does and..."
"That is never, ever going to happen, Troy," she said as she leant up and kissed him. "And seriously, Scrooge McDuck?"
"Do you have a problem with Scottish Ducks?"
"No...although I am slightly disturbed that my boyfriend has considered the concept of swimming in a room full of money like said Scottish Duck."
Troy laughed as he shook his head. "Fine – your husband may be ridiculously rich – like, I don't know, rich like Ryan and Sharpay and own twenty five resorts around the world and an apartment in Paris. Happy?"
"I don't know – the swimming in money thing was a good selling point," she teased before she shook her head. "I don't care what perks this mythical guy has – he's not my guy, so I'm not interested."
He smiled as he kissed her hair. Deep down he knew that, but he still liked to hear it. "I'm gonna hold you to that for like forever, you do realise that, right?"
"Meh – I suppose I could handle forever with you," she smirked as she reached up to kiss him. "Providing of course that you never bring the name Octavius up as a potential baby name again."
He laughed and shook his head. "I swear – I promise to stick to names that won't get the kids beat up from now on."
"That's all I ask," she giggled as she pressed her lips to his chest. "So that means you don't plan on leaving me for a beautiful, leggy, blonde supermodel once you're rich and famous, right Wildcat?"
"Never," he vowed as he closed his eyes, the mere idea of it feeling wrong to him. "There will never be anyone else but you."
"Good," she whispered as she placed her lips against his throat, causing his heart to race. "I was so lucky to find you."
"We were both lucky. Just think how different it could have been. I could have stayed down in the gym if my mom hadn't made me leave that night, you could have been hiding behind a book...I kinda wonder what would have happened if you would have ended up singing with someone else that night."
"I probably would have fainted," she giggled as she shook her head. "I was feeling rather woozy up there until you started singing and I guess...I kinda knew it would be okay after that."
"I guess it was just one of those things that were supposed to happen. Somebody up there must like us, Ms Montez..." he said as he took her hand and kissed it. "You gotta love fate."
"Fate is kinda good to us," she replied as she put her hand against his cheek. "I wish other people could understand that though."
"I don't need them to understand, I'll just settle for them butting the hell out and stop giving us 'good advice'," he murmured, trying to blot out the memories of the numerous conversations their parents had given them during the summer about 'exploring other things', even going as far as to arrange coincidental dinners with 'family friends' in an effort to encourage them to 'branch out' in their love lives. Apparently they were getting too old for the puppy love stage, so now was a good time to compare and contrast so as not to miss the full college experience which apparently meant it was wrong to be happy with the person you were with and instead meant you had to go out with a different person every week.
He shook his head, refusing to dwell on them and instead focused his attention back on the girl in his arms. She saw his attention return and gave him a small smile which immediately lifted any traces of his foul mood. "So, before the weird tangent I believe I was enquiring about your future plans, Ms Montez. So...five years, where do you see yourself?"
"Hmmm, let me see – in the next five years?" she pondered as if to give it some serious thought, her finger on her chin and a smile tugging at her lips. "Well, bearing in mind that I'm no Nostradamus, and have no access to crystal balls or magic mirrors this isn't 100% set in stone so you are not allowed to mock or make fun of me if none of it happens, agreed?"
He chuckled and nodded, trying to keep his face straight. "Of course – I will make a note of that and leave a margin for error in your plan accordingly."
"Thank you," she smiled as she went back to her pondering, as though it were a decision of grave importance. "Hmmm, well I guess I see me as a teacher – I mean, like a proper teacher grading homework at night and everything while I'm waiting on you to come home. I can kinda see us starting a family kinda early, like not five years early, but maybe seven so it's mid-twenties early because we want to have like three or four kids and I see the pair of us insanely happy wherever we are. I think I'd like for us to travel – like take this insane vacation one summer before we graduate where we hit like ten countries in a month or something or where we throw a dart in a map and go there. I want us to have an adventure before we start in the 'real world'."
He watched as her eyes lit up while she worked through her thoughts. He got the impression that she had given it some thought it the past and that made him feel good because he had definitely given it thought.
"That holiday idea actually sounds really cool – we should definitely do that." She grinned at him and nodded. "What else do you see?"
"Ummm...I think we would still be in contact with Chad and Taylor separately because I just don't see how they are going to get back together after the whole thing that went down with them. Although I bet that Taylor will still be telling me that I've wasted my life by not pursuing law and settling down too early and Chad will still be telling you that you missed out on 'all the hot chicks' in LA," she giggled as she impersonated Chad before continuing. "I bet Kelsi and Ryan will be these big shots that we never see anymore because they are always so busy. Um...apart from that, I don't really care about where we live, or the size of the house, or anything – I...kinda just see...us." She eyed him for a second before continuing. "Should I have edited? I should have edited, I knew that before I started talking but it's just you said you wouldn't freak but I should have realised that that obviously meant you would freak because guys don't want to hear all that. I really need to filter my brai..."
"Move in with me," he said suddenly, cutting off her ramble before it could start.
"What?"
"Move in with me. You wanna know what I see? I see us – I don't know if I end up in basketball, or in physical therapy, or teaching like my dad. I have no idea where we will be living, or whether we will have enough for a house or an apartment. All I know is that I see you and me together. At one point I will ask you to marry me and I hope you will say yes, and we'll be married and we'll be happy because you're it for me. I don't need the next three years to tell me that – I know that now, so...move in with me."
"Troy – I would love to," she said as she sat up a bit higher to look at him. "But you know that your dad will never let you. Your parents already think we should go 'on a break' or something and they...well, they are not happy with how together we still are so they will freak out if we move in together. I don't want to make things any more difficult for you with your mom and dad. I mean things were kinda strained enough when we went there."
"Our parents don't get us, our friends don't get us. They don't get what we are, or what we're going to be. We could take as long a break as they think we should take, but the facts aren't going to change – you're it for me. There is no one else; there will never be anyone else. You and I are forever and midweek breakfasts and phone calls when we have a break from work and classes aren't enough for me – I need to know you'll be here when I come home from basketball practice no matter how late it ends, and I want you to know that I'll be there lying beside you when you wake up, no matter how early you have to leave for class. I want to go to sleep with you every night; I want to wake up with you in my arms every morning." His tone rose as he spoke to her, unable to disguise his desperation for her agreement. He lifted a hand to touch the side of her face. "I want to see you blush when you tell me you love me because for whatever reason it makes you embarrassed when we say it in bed. I want us to lie in on weekends and watch SpongeBob from bed, and take spontaneous showers when we're all hyped up and late night movies that we don't finish until three hours before class. I want your perfume lingering on the furniture and your books littering the table while you not so sneakily move more and more of my shirts to your side of the closet. I don't need a few years to know that this is how it's supposed to be. Please, move in with me."
"I..." she began as she looked at him, and he silently pleaded for her to say yes. "I...I want all that too. So much. I would love to move in with you, Troy."
He froze for a second, looking for a reason as to why she hadn't just said what he hoped she said and in his daze he faintly heard her giggle as she reached up and stroked his face. "Are you still with me, Wildcat?"
"I don't know, did you just say yes or no?"
"It's a yes in every language," she whispered to him, causing him to grin madly as he pushed her down onto the pillows and smashed his lips into hers. The kisses were somewhat sloppy due to their wild smiles, but he didn't care.
Their short make-out session was interrupted as he abruptly sat up on his elbows, whilst still laying over her and looked down. "Okay, so what I was thinking is that it's not fair for you to move here since it's so far away from your school and obviously it would be the same for me so what I was thinking is that once we get up, I'll call in sick to work and we can drive into town and have a look around there for any apartments that are available and work something out."
"Sounds like a plan," she said as she reached up to kiss him.
He returned the kiss before he pulled away again. "Also, I think we should sit down and decide what furniture we're taking. Personally, I prefer your bed but my TV."
"We could put my TV in our bedroom," she suggested, giving him a sultry smile. "It will help when we're watching SpongeBob on Saturday mornings plus I can curl up in our bed, under our sheets in our room and watch your games when you're away from home thinking about you..."
He couldn't contain the groan the thought caused him to omit as he looked at her. "Fucking hell, Gabi – a three letter word like 'our' should not sound as sexy as you make it sound...."
"You just have a one track mind," she giggled as she tried to look innocent; all the while she was walking her fingers up his chest.
"No offence - but we're lying here in bed, practically naked and you're trying to torment me with images that are going to make it very difficult for me to breathe, never mind play basketball. If I didn't have a one track mind in this situation, I would be gay."
"If I was trying to torment you I would say that I could be lying like this in our bed, in our room, under our sheets watching your games, thinking of you...and me...us...like this..." as she spoke she dragged her leg up the outside of his as he couldn't contain the groan the action forced from his lips.
"You're trying to kill me." He gave up trying to resist her as his lips found hers again, kissing, sucking, tasting every piece of her he could reach. He would never be able to touch her enough and he couldn't help the grin form on his lips as he thought of all the opportunities he was going to have to wake up like this in the future. Every morning he would wake up and she would be lying there beside him, her warm body pressed against his, her hair draped over his chest, her walking around their home in his shirt and boxers. He was almost completely lost in the moment before he sprung up from her neck and looked at her breathlessly. "We shouldn't tell our parents right away."
She let out a groan as she opened her eyes to look at him, a mixture of frustration and amusement on her face. "You're really thinking about our parents now?"
"Nooo," he said slowly, blushing slightly as he realised what he had done. "We can talk about our parents later, let's just rewind the last minute and get back to where we were..."
But the damage had been done as she let out a laugh and shook her head, running her hand through his hair. "I have an idea – how about we get up, get dressed, get breakfast and discuss our new home and then later once we've done all that, we can get back to this? You, Mr Bolton, clearly have your mind elsewhere just now."
"Baby," he whined. "Don't get up. My mind is 100% on this moment, right now. I'll be good now, I promise."
"You're always good, Wildcat," she whispered teasingly, causing him to moan in pain as she gently forced him up and reached down the floor for his shirt that had been discarded and pulled it on as he cursed his stupid brain while she fired him the running pants that were lying on the floor as well. "Come on – I'll make you breakfast."
She waited a second, looking for movement from him, before she crawled over to him, seemingly noticing the pained expression on his face but was equally unaware that the sight of her crawling up him wearing his shirt was doing nothing to help as she brushed his hair out his eyes. "Troy, what's the matter? Are you okay?"
"Yes?"
"Are you lying?"
"Yes," he admitted as he looked at her. God she was amazing – she had no idea what the hell she did to him. It would have been something if it was just physically, but she aroused him on every level and there was nothing he wouldn't do for her, even if at that point in time it was extremely difficult to focus on anything other than the sheer seductiveness of the girl in front of him. God he loved fate.
She eyed him in concern for a second before seemingly realising what the real problem was which caused her to smirk and push his shoulders so he was flat on his back where she proceeded to lean down and kiss him, her tongue dancing across his teasingly as her hands caressed his shoulders. "Do you have any idea how much I love you, Troy Bolton?"
"Um..." he forced out, pleading with his brain to formulate words. "If I lie and say no will you show me?"
She smirked against his lips but shook her head. "I'm planning on showing you every day how much I love you, Troy."
"I know," he smiled. "Hey, you're not blushing..."
"I'm wearing more clothes than you are, for a change," she grinned as she leant close to him again to kiss him. "Something that seems to make a difference. Who knew?"
"Maybe you should take the shirt off and try it," he suggested. "For scientific purposes at least."
She pulled back and he tried to reattach their lips, but she moved up and shook her head, the sexy smirk never leaving her face as she leant down and attached her lips to his throat. "Funnily enough, I'm not interested in science just now..."
That was a lie – she was always interested in science but at this point he wasn't going to put his foot in it again by mentioning that. Killing the mood twice in the space of five minutes would not bode well for her continued agreement about moving in with him. Still though...
"Baby," he groaned as she shimmied down so she was placing kisses along his chest. "Are we...?"
"Uh-huh?" she asked, as she shimmied lower, her hand trailing teasingly down his abdomen to play with the elastic of his boxers, her lips barely leaving his skin as she kissed, nipped and licked a trail right down. His head thudded back on the pillows at the sensation. "Are we what?"
"What...God...I thought..." he began before he looked down to see her grin at him. She was going to be the death of him. "I thought...you...wanted to talk...about the apartment..."
Damn his brain – damn his brain to hell. Why the hell was he talking just now? Why couldn't he just do what any right thinking man would do and stop thinking?
"We could talk about the apartment," she purred, causing his head to drop back again at the mere sound. "But you look uncomfortable, and I don't want that...at all...so...I'm going to help. You can just lay there and think about furniture shopping, and curtains and stuff like that if you want..."
She continued kissing his torso, her hand tormenting him with its faint brushes and caresses.
"Gabi," he forced out as he looked at her. "Get up here."
She shook her head against his abdomen, her teasing giggle tormenting him as she placed a long open mouthed kiss against his navel. This is what he loved – the simple knowledge that he was the only one who ever got to see this side of her personality. This version of her was just his – he was the only one who had ever seen it, the only one who would ever see it and that meant everything to him.
He knew where this was headed and although he had absolutely no complaints about that – he wanted more than that. He wanted all of her. He reached down and grabbed her wrist, pulling it up until she lifted her gaze, her eyes still smoky with intent. He didn't know what he looked like, but if he had to guess he would guess he would look as dazed as she did. He sat up abruptly and wrapped his hands around her waist suddenly, yanking her up, one hand finding the back of her head and holding it in place against his lips and the other making short work of removing his shirt again.
"Now...tell me you love me," he whispered against her lips as he trailed a hand down her chest, causing her to arch against him. "For scientific purposes..."
"I'm not interested in science just now," she repeated to him, allowing him to pin her to the bed.
"Please," he murmured as he leant his forehead against hers. "For me?"
She sighed and brought her hand up to his jaw, holding his face in place as she met his eyes with hers. "I love you, Troy Bolton. More than anything."
Sure enough, at her confession, her cheeks flushed and he felt himself smile at the sight before he rubbed his nose against hers. "I love you too."
Before he could connect their lips again she pulled back with a teasing glint in her eye. "So do I get to decorate our new apartment?"
He groaned as he looked at her. "Baby, don't do this to me..."
She smirked at him as she bit down on her lip, the way that always drove him insane. "Do what to you, Wildcat?"
He closed his eyes at the pain she was inflicting on him. Why the hell was she purring his nickname at him if she didn't want to kill him? "You know what. That...the whole, sex-kitten thing you do that drives me all sorts of crazy."
She couldn't contain her laughter then as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her, kissing him softly.
"I'm sorry, baby," she whispered as she pulled back. "You know, we're going to be able to do this anytime we want to from now on, can you believe it? No more having to meet for breakfast just to be able to see each other every day."
"No more rushed dinners, or cut short study sessions..."
"No more having to steal your shirts every time I come over," she whispered as she reached up to kiss him again. "Because now they will all already be in our closet."
He couldn't help but smile at that. Coming to California seemed to have given her a fresh appreciation of wearing his clothes – in High School she had done it occasionally, but since they came out here she had taken to doing it a whole lot more. She had tried to do it somewhat sneakily and she had been successful with it as well, until he stayed over at her apartment one day and went into her closet to find four of his shirts and one of his jackets hanging there. He didn't mind though – there was a part of him that definitely got a thrill out of thinking about his girl wearing something belonging to him when they weren't together. "So you really said yes so you didn't have to go to the effort to steal my clothes?"
She grinned and nodded. "What's yours is mine and, as we're sharing furniture, and rent, and a bed, clothes are the next logical step. Sadly I don't think you'll fit in any of mine, but I'll let you wear some of the stuff I've acquired in the last couple of years including a rather large warm-up jacket..."
"You're too kind," he rolled his eyes playfully, causing her to giggle. "Why is this moving in thing a good idea again?"
She reached up and tugged his hair gently, her face becoming more serious as she met his eyes. "Because I can't think of a better way to bookend my day than being with you."
"Me neither," he whispered as he stroked her face, all teasing forgotten, all sexual frustration left at the back of his mind for that moment. In that moment it was just them – the two of them, him looking into her eyes and her looking into his. "God, I love you. We're going to be so insanely happy this year that Disney characters are going to be envious of us."
"And they both lived happily ever after, right?" she smiled.
"Exactly. Once upon a time a dashingly, handsome prince disguised as a basketball player kissed the most beautiful princess in all the land and woke her up. After he had charmed her way into her good books by failing to mention that he had been talking to her while she slept, she took pity on the poor guy and agreed to move into his palace away from the annoying basketball playing dwarves, interfering magical drama kids, the sparkly Ice Queen and the disapproving parents because really, 32.7 miles is way too far away. They laughed, and joked before they had outrageously hot sex for the best part of the day before they went and found their new abode and then they all lived happily ever. The end."
"Nice story – not sure they will be making a film about it though," she teased as she reached up and kissed him. "At least not one for kids."
"I could make an edit, but I don't want to compromise my vision of the project," he murmured against her lips as his hand trailed up her side slowly.
"I like your vision."
He grinned as he leant down and pressed his lips against hers. "Good – because your input is very, very important to the finished product. But shh – no more talking now."
Her only response was a laugh as she pulled him closer to her.
His last coherent thought was that this was how it was supposed to be with them, and how he finally felt like his future was starting to take shape. Basketball, college, California could all change – the only constant he needed was the girl he was holding right now and he knew he had her, and one day he would have her forever but at the moment the fact that they would share a bed, rent and even clothes, and that he would be there when she left for class, and she would be there when he returned from practice was enough. The next chapter of their fairytale started here – and it just kept getting better.