Sorry for the wait! Here's Chapter 3 and I'll work on some more chapters for my other stories…
Disclaimer: I'd be in a foreign country if I owned HSM, not at my house….
Ch.3-
Sharpay, Taylor, Lilly and Gabriella all stepped off the plane, stretching and yawning from the long flight. Troy had done just as he promised and gotten tickets for all of them to come see him play in New York.
It had been just a week since Gabriella and Lilly's house had succumbed to the burning flames, which was later blamed on bad electrical work. The construction company was working day and night to have the girls a home in the next few months, much to their satisfaction.
"Sharpay! Over here!" A blonde man, Ryan, her brother was waving them down. They rolled their luggage over to him.
"Hey Ryan! How are you?" They shared a hug. "This is Taylor, Gabriella and Lilly." He smiled at the others and they proceeded out to his SUV.
" You drive this? How can you do that to the planet? Its putting unneeded greenhouse gases into the ozone!" Taylor screeched. She was known for her love of the environment, you could almost say her best friend besides Gabi and Sharpay was Mother Nature.
"Umm…it's not mine. It's the company's, so I had no choice. I wouldn't have chosen it either if I had the luxury." Ryan called back smoothly and popped the trunk.
"Good answer" Gabriella whispered to him and lifted her suitcase inside.
"Do you like my suitcase Mr. Ryan? It's a Knicks bag!" She held it up and he took it from her.
"Number 23, are you a Troy fan?"
"Yes sir!"
"Well, good choice!!" He smiled and set it down.
They all jumped into the truck and drove until they reached a large white house.
"Where are we staying anyways?" Taylor asked.
"Troy's. He insisted, because he wanted to be able to play with Lilly. Seems like he's your fan too Lilly!" Ryan looked at the mini-Gabi through his mirror.
"Well, he can see me at my play in April and I have a basketball game next week! Can he come Mommy?" She turned her big brown eyes to her mother.
"We'll see." She smiled a motherly smile and they all got out of the vehicle.
Dressed in a Knicks sweat suit, Troy eagerly walked out of his home to greet his guests.
"Hey Girls! Welcome to Casa Troy!" He dramatically waved to the house, causing a giggle to erupt from Gabi. Tay and Shar just looked at him like he was an idiot.
Lilly got her bag and ran over to hug Troy, who scooped her up and gave her a big hug,
"So how's my favorite little girl doin'?" He smiled
"I have a loose tooth! Look" She put a finger on one of her front teeth and wiggled it slightly.
"Wow! That's pretty exciting! You know what's more exciting?"
"What?"
"Tonight's game! DUH!" He rolled his eyes as she laughed. The women just smiled on the sweet sight unrolling in front of them.
Everyone walked inside as Troy gave each of them a guest bedroom, with Lilly and Gabi staying together.
"So, it looks like Troy really likes Lilly, its sweet." Sharpay suggested as she walked into Gabi's room. Lilly had gone with Tay to go buy some shoes, since she forgot her tennis shoes.
"Yeah, he's a doll with her. I'm so amazed that he took this much interest in her."
"Me too. Gab, I do need to talk to you about something." Shar had a worried look on her face as she sat down on the bed, where Gab soon joined.
"What?"
"Lilly, she was talking like that again to Troy before the house burnt down. I told her to stop, but it's really starting to worry me." She grabbed her best friend's hand, in comfort.
"I have no idea what to do about it Shar. She keeps saying that she can see these…angels she says but what the hell am I suppose to do? Tell her angels don't exist? I know that they do, so how do I approach the topic?" She began to feel tears coming and hugged her friend.
What she didn't know is that on the other side of the door was a certain NBA basketball player and he now knew the Montez family secret.
"AND THE KNICKS WIN!" The announcer screamed into the microphone, as all the players and fans went wild! Gabi, Shar, Tay and Lilly were all screaming and hugging with everyone else. They practically ran to get inside the locker room and greet Troy and the team. The showed their passes to the guard and ran inside to see the team. Gabi ran up to Troy, who she had grown close to the past few days. He spun around and looked deep into her eyes and leaned down, kissing her cheek.
"You were amazing!" She smiled widely up at him.
"Thanks! I saw you screaming for me when I made that last free throw!" He returned the smile.
"You know that was for Chad!" She joked.
"That hurt…right here." He dramatically placed a hand over his heart.
" You should have been an actor not a basketball player!" She laughed as Lilly ran over to hug Troy's leg. He picked up the little girl, who had a huge smile on her face.
" We won! We won!" She screamed.
" I know! So who's your favorite player?" He asked
" You are Uncle Troy!" She yelled, surprising everyone.
"Uncle Troy?" Gabi mouthed behind Lilly to him.
He nodded his head and smiled, " So who's your favorite uncle?" He asked
" Uncle Chad, duh!" She smiled at him, "Just kidding! You are!!" Everyone laughed.
Chad and Ryan walked over to Troy as the girls went to congratulate the other players.
"Uncle Chad? Uncle Troy? What the hell has happened in 3 days?" Ryan asked his players and friends.
" She's a sweet girl and we decided since she called Taylor and Sharpay 'aunt' she could call us 'uncle'." Troy stated.
" That girl can play some basketball too!" Chad stated and they all smiled at the little girl who was running over to see her other uncle.
"UNCLE CHAD!" She jumped up into his arms and gave him a big hug.
"How's my biggest fan doing?" He asked her with a million watt smile.
"Great! Mommy said that we can go for ice cream! Do you want to come? And Uncle Troy?" She looked between the two players.
They exchanged glances. Usually the team went for drinks as a celebration on a big win like tonight.
"We'll be there, don't worry." Troy stated and gave Chad a look not to change his statement.
"But first, your uncles have got to take some showers. We stink!" He fanned his nose for an effect.
"Ok, bye!" She kissed his cheek and hopped down. She held her arms to Troy, who squatted down to her level.
"Bye!" Lilly kissed his cheek as well and ran off to her mom.
Gabi left Lilly with Shar and Tay and walked back over to Ryan, since Troy and Chad had gone to shower.
"We thought we'd go down to that ice cream parlor near Troy's house. Can you tell him Ry?" She asked.
He hugged her, "Of course! See ya there!" He waved as she walked back over to the girls and they left.
"That's really sweet that they are letting her call them 'uncle'" Tay stated as they drove out of the parking lot from the ice cream parlor. They had just finished a very enjoyable treat of chocolate sundaes, so now we driving back to Troy's.
"Troy's a big sweety, and he's very good with kids." Gabi replied
" I think someone likes him!" Shar stated in a sing-song voice from the backseat.
"Shar! I'm glad my child isn't here to listen to you! He's just becoming my really great friend and he's great with Lilly!" She countered
"Sure, but I bet in at least 5 years you'll be married!" Shar called.
"Sure!" Gabi huffed, but deep down, she was really hoping that Shar was right. Troy Bolton was the kindest man she had met in a long time and she was ready to settle down again. Lilly needed a father and Gabi herself needed a man to love her again. All in good time, she thought, all in time.