It's the moment everyone has been waiting for! I loved writing this fic and I hope you all enjoyed it. I've got a few more things in the works right now, mostly Doctor Who stuff, but if anyone has any requests I am always happy to revisit High School Musical! Thanks for making this a fun experience, my lovely readers and reviewers :)

Nicole

"Gabi, wake up," Maria said gently, shaking her awake. "It's four thirty."

Gabriella woke up quickly with a burst of energy. She was still nervous, but it was a good nervous. An excited nervous.

"God, Mom, what do I wear?" she cried as she got out of bed and started shifting through her things. She pulled out a few dresses and laid them on the bed, examining each of them.

"You know I like that blue one," Maria said. "It looks beautiful on you. But, I think you should wear this one." She walked out of the room and came back with a flowery piece of fabric.

"Mom, you bought me a dress? Thank you! Oh, it's beautiful!"

"Try it on!" Maria laughed. Gabriella took of her jeans and shirt and pulled the dress over her head. She headed into the bathroom in the hall to look in the mirror.

"I love it," she said softly. "Thank you."

"You're beautiful, Gabi. Troy won't know what hit him."

"God, I need to do my hair and makeup," Gabriella muttered. She grabbed her curling iron from her room and touched up her natural waves, then applied some mascara and lip gloss, keeping it simple. Before she knew it, the doorbell was ringing.

"Gabi, are you ready to go?" Maria called up the stairs.

"Coming!" she called back, quickly grabbing a purse and shoving things in it. She grabbed her phone last and rushed down the stairs, sending Troy a quick text with a ridiculous smile on her face.

Good luck with the championships tonight. I know you'll be great.

At the bottom of the stairs, her mother and Lucille waited, along with another teenage girl.

"Oh my god, Taylor?" she exclaimed. The girls looked at each other, shrieking with excitement and running into a hug.

"Gabi! I can't believe you're here!"

"Come on girls, you can catch up in the car. We don't want to be late," Lucille laughed. Gabriella and Taylor settled in the back seat of the car while Lucille and Maria were up front. Gabriella's phone buzzed as she received a response from Troy.

Thanks babe. Wish you were here.

"God, Taylor, I'm so nervous," Gabriella admitted.

"Honestly, you shouldn't be. Troy doesn't shut up about you. Everyone practically feels like they know you," Taylor laughed. Gabriella smiled to herself.

"Really?"

"Really. He's gonna shit himself when he sees you. Not literally, but – my point is, he's gonna be ecstatic."

Gabriella looked out the window just as the car stopped. They had pulled into a spot in the East High parking lot. Tons of people were filing into the doors. Her heart picked up its pace.

"We'll meet you after the game, right Mrs. Bolton?" Taylor said. Lucille nodded.

"Have fun, girls," she said. "I'm going to go find Jack. Maria, are you coming with me?" Maria nodded.

"Don't be nervous Gabi. Like I always tell you – just be yourself."

"I will," Gabriella said, sounding a lot more confident than she felt. The adults headed inside.

"Taylor! Wait up!" a voice called as the two teens had started to head for the doors. Gabriella turned to see a petite girl with feathery brown hair, tucked into a hat, rushing toward them. She was being followed by a taller, slim, blonde boy and girl.

"Guys," Taylor said excitedly. "This is Gabriella." She gestured.

"Gabriella?" the petite girl said, confused. She looked Gabriella up and down for a moment and her eyes widened. "Oh my god, you're Gabriella! Troy's Gabriella!"

"I – um – yes," Gabriella stuttered. The other two gasped.

"Gabriella, this is Kelsi, Ryan, and Sharpay," Taylor introduced.

"Oh!" Gabriella gasped as she realized. "Troy told me all about you guys! It's so nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," Sharpay said, stepping forward to hug her. "Troy never stops talking about you. I feel like we're best friends already. Troy told us you'd be moving here but he didn't say when!"

"Troy doesn't know she's here," Taylor said quickly. "We're surprising him after the game."

"Oh, that's so sweet," Kelsi gushed.

"Speaking of which, we should probably get inside. The game is starting soon," Sharpay noted, looking at the time on her phone. The group rushed inside, finding an empty row in the bleachers in the middle of the crowd. Gabriella's eyes searched the court as the teams flooded out of the locker rooms. She saw Chad, she saw Jason, she saw Zeke – all the people Troy had ever described to her, they were right there in the gym.

There he is.

She smiled, wider than she'd ever smiled. The game started, and she didn't take her eyes off of him the whole time. Their team took an easy lead, and she marveled at how wonderful he was. He complained about the practice, but it really paid off – the team worked like a machine, passing, dribbling, shooting baskets – and by halftime, they were up by twenty points. Taylor cheered loudly for Chad, and Sharpay for Zeke. Ryan and Kelsi's cheering was more subdued, but still enthusiastic. Gabriella cheered the loudest of all of them, but her voice was still lost in the roaring crowd.

In the next half, the opposing team started catching up. At the end, the score was tied, and there were only a few seconds left on the clock. The entire gymnasium of people were on the edge of their seats, hanging on every movement. Chad gained possession of the ball and passed it to Jason, who passed it to Zeke, who passed it to Troy – who made the basket at the last second. The buzzer went off and the scoreboard changed, and East High went wild. People leapt off the bleacher seats, jumping up and down and flooding onto the court. Taylor hugged Gabriella, and both of them cheered. Troy was lifted onto the shoulders of his teammates, a trophy thrust into his hands, which he lifted high in the air. In the midst of the chaos, Gabriella stopped for a moment.

This is it. This is where I belong.

The gymnasium was chaos. The team put Troy back on the ground and he handed the trophy to his dad. He hugged other guys on the team. Then he turned to scan the crowd.

Then blue eyes met brown, and everything froze.

Gabriella's eyes were watering and Troy's jaw slackened. People were shouting, congratulating, but he wasn't listening. He drove through the crowd, pushing and shoving, and then he was five feet in front of her and she was looking up at him.

"You've gotten taller," she said abruptly, completely enchanted. Troy let out disbelieving, surprised laughter, closing the space between them in just two steps. Her arms came around his neck, his arms around her waist, and he was spinning her in joyful circles.

He set her down gently, looking into her eyes.

"Hi," she said. He brought a hand up to cup her face, letting out a breath he'd been holding when he touched her skin.

"You're here," he said, almost as if he didn't believe it.

"I'm here," she whispered. And then he was pulling her close, she was grabbing his shirt, his lips coming down to capture hers. His arms circled her waist, hers hugging his neck as she kissed him back. He tugged her closer, deepening the kiss, and her mind was blank. She was kissing Troy. She was finally, finally kissing Troy. When he finally pulled away, his forehead rested on hers. She opened her eyes, but his were still closed. She kissed him softly, one more time.

Troy smiled and his eyes opened. They were blue, bluer than she remembered, a shade of blue that the pictures and webcams did no justice for.

"God, you're so beautiful," he said. "You're beautiful, Ella, and you're here. You're here!" His shout echoed, even in the gymnasium that was booming with activity.

She was smiling like an idiot, and so was he. But they were smiling like idiots together.

Gabriella closed the distance between them once more - and it was only a few inches. Not thousands of miles. And she wouldn't have it any other way.