A/N: A huge thanks to Corii for helping me write this chapter, and to Michaela for her friendly nagging about me needing to write ;). Also a huge thanks to my reviewers from last chapter, I'm glad everyone is liking the story already, I hope I can meet everyone's expectations for this story!
The blue eyes flashed a lighter shade as they met with Gabriella's chocolate brown, but when a hand appeared on the boy's shoulder his eyes darkened, though they did not look away from Gabriella.
"And this is Troy," came the voice of Jack Bolton as he finished introducing his family.
"I remember Troy, he was only knee-high to a grasshopper last time I saw him though," Joseph teased and Gabriella rolled her eyes. "We've got Will over there, and then Gabriella who is holding Charlie."
Gabriella looked over towards Jack and Lucille Bolton, smiling at the couple who looked just a bit older than she remembered from when she was a small child. Gabriella nodded politely at the couple before she turned her attention back to the boy with the breathtaking blue orbs, looking far from the gangly Troy that Gabriella remembered.
"Let's go into the living room shall we?" Maria offered the adults. "The kids can play outside."
"Gabi, can you go out and supervise the boys for us? Maybe Troy will keep you company," Joseph said as a bid to get all the children out the house so they could finalize the plans without the teenagers' inputs.
"Sure," Gabriella replied half heartedly, breaking the gaze she had with Troy and turning to follow her brother and the twins out the door into the backyard.
The three boys quickly formed a friendship, starting up a game of soccer as Gabriella sat down on the grass in the shade, settling Charlie between her legs.
Troy followed suit, settling down on the grass next to her.
Troy and Gabriella were sneaking looks at the other, Gabriella's cheeks reddening more each time Troy caught her looking.
"Um, I'm just going to get a glass of water, do you want one?" Gabriella asked after ten minutes of shared glances.
"Uh yeah, sure," Troy stammered, feeling slightly nervous as Gabriella's musical voice drifted into his ears.
"So are you looking forward to this whole… thing?" Troy asked as Gabriella poured their drinks, handing Charlie a sippy cup before passing Troy one of the glasses.
"To be honest with you, not at all," Gabriella confessed. "What about you?"
"It's gunna suck," Troy replied with a smile. "I mean, New Zealand? What were our parents thinking? They drive on the wrong side of the road there!"
"I bet they call everything by a different name. I saw on the internet that they call cotton candy, 'candy floss'," Gabriella replied with disgust.
"Their gas is expensive," Troy pointed out matter of factly. "I heard my parents talking about it last night."
"They sucked in the Olympics," Gabriella giggled.
"They have Christmas in the summer," Troy scoffed.
"They're crazy," Gabriella giggled. Hearing a shout of protest coming from outside Gabriella scooped Charlie back up, deciding they needed to get outside before the boys started fighting.
Troy held the door open for Gabriella, flashing her a smile as she passed him to the backyard, a smile which was returned by Gabriella.
"Gabi!" Came Will's voice.
"Troy!" Came the combined voices of Logan and Connor.
"They won't tell me which one of them they are!" William complained.
"We're just playing," one of the twins replied.
"Logan, I don't care if you're just playing, you two wanna make an enemy before we even leave for this…. Vacation?" Troy scolded. "Will, Logan is wearing the red t-shirt and Connor is in the hoody, alright?"
Will nodded, glaring at the twins before stalking across the backyard, leaving Troy to groan once again at the thought of spending three months living in a tiny space with his brothers.
"I hope you know that I'm going to more than likely hide out in your motor home," Troy teased Gabriella, as he flopped back down on the grass next to her, feeling the shyness between them lift as the pair realized how similar they really were.
"It was your stupid idea," Logan snapped at Connor, pushing him slightly.
"Logan!" Troy warned, getting ready to stand up incase a fight broke out between his brothers.
"It was not. You were the stupid one," Connor retorted, pushing Logan back, harder than he had been pushed to start with.
Within seconds Troy was up and in between the two boys, keeping them at a distance from the other as they exchanged heated glares.
"You two want me to get Dad out here?" Troy scolded, embarrassed that his brothers were fighting in front of Gabriella. "She must think we're totally dysfunctional," he thought as he snuck a glance over at the dark haired girl who was watching him curiously.
A smile pulled at the corners of Troy's mouth as he watched Gabriella spring up from her position to hurry over to Charlie who had fallen over and grazed her knee. The way Gabriella comforted the toddler made Troy almost wish that he was the one who she was paying the loving attention to.
"I am not jealous of a toddler, that's just ridiculous," Troy thought to himself as he watched Gabriella kiss her sister's forehead gently. "Okay maybe I am."
"Are you okay, Charlie?" Troy asked gently as he walked over to where Gabriella and Charlie were now sitting.
"Boo-boo," Charlie replied sadly, pointing to her knee.
"But Gabi kissed it all better, right?" Gabriella asked, knowing that her baby sister liked to milk her 'boo-boos' for all they were worth. "Why don't you go and get your dolly off the picnic table?"
Charlie was up off Gabriella's knee in a flash, hurrying over to where her doll had been placed earlier in the day.
"She's so cute," Troy observed as the pair watched Charlie cart around her doll happily, her grazed knee well forgotten.
"She is. But she can be a little terror too," Gabriella confessed. "You've got younger siblings, you know how that one goes."
"I don't think anyone has called the twins cute since they came home from hospital. Troy said with a grin. "At least nobody that had to live with them," he half joked.
"They seem like they're a… handful," Gabriella said tactfully, looking up to see Logan and Connor pushing each other yet again. "Troy."
At the sound of his name, Troy looked up at Gabriella, following her gaze to his younger brothers.
Troy groaned out loud as he again made his way over to his younger brothers, pulling them apart again.
"I swear if you two do one more thing out of line you'll be going inside," Troy scolded. "Apologise to each other, right now."
The twins muttered an apology to the other one, deciding that Troy meant business they decided not to push him anymore.
Still scowling at the 9 year olds Troy walked back across the yard to Gabriella, collapsing into the grass next to her.
Gabriella giggled at his behaviour, "So aren't we just excited to spend three months with our younger siblings?"
"You better like going for long, long walks in a foreign country, Brie," Troy replied with a smirk.
Gabriella's heart fluttered at the sound of the nickname slipping easily from Troy. "Brie?" She asked. "That's a new one."
"Oh, I uh, I'm sorry, I can call you Gabriella if you don't like it," Troy stammered, his cheeks flushing a bright red.
"I'm kidding Troy," Gabriella laughed softly. "I like it," she added bashfully.
The pair sat in silence for a few minutes, glancing at the other every few seconds, their blushes deepening when they caught the other's eye.
"So tell me about East High," Gabriella said, breaking the silence. "Let me guess, you're the big shot football captain."
"I should take offence to that," Troy grinned.
"Math nerd?" Gabriella teased, and Troy shook his head. "Drama? Musician? Cheerleader?"
All of Gabriella's questions were met with a increasingly amused look from Troy as he shook his head in the negative.
"Basketball captain," Troy finally said. "Of the state champion team."
"Wildcat superstar, then," Gabriella said, her voice showing how impressed she was at his "label".
"I'm just a regular guy," Troy defended. "What about you, let me guess… cheerleader."
Gabriella burst into giggles, shaking her head. "Try math nerd."
"You look like a nerd," Troy teased, earning him a swat to his chest by Gabriella. "Actually I change my mind, you're that big burly bully that everyone is scared of."
Gabriella pouted at Troy, a mock hurt look settling upon her face. "You take that back… or I'll… I'll hit you," Gabriella flirted.
"Like I said, a bully," laughed Troy. "So math nerd, how are you at all the other subjects?"
"Okay maybe I'm not just a math nerd, but a bit of an all round nerd," Gabriella admitted sheepishly. "And are you the jock who struggles to read and write?"
"AP classes, actually," Troy boasted. "I take it we'll be sharing many classes come the new school year?"
"I think we will," Gabriella admitted in awe, Troy Bolton was definitely not what he looked.
The pair settled into a comfortable silence, watching their siblings running around the yard with enjoyment.
"How are those boys going to handle a motor home?" Gabriella wondered out loud.
"We're just gunna let them loose with the sheep," Troy laughed. "There's no way they'll sit still for long, it'll be the only way to come back home sane."
Just as Gabriella was about to answer she heard her Mom's voice float through the backyard.
"Kids can you come inside please?" Maria called out.
Groaning Troy got up, offering his hand out to Gabriella so he could help pull her up too. Gabriella took Troy's hand, feeling the sparks the shot through both of the teenagers bodies. Once Gabriella was standing, Troy didn't let go of her hand, leaving their fingers loosely laced as they walked across the backyard, following their younger siblings into the Montez house.
It wasn't until they reached the living room that Troy reluctantly let go of Gabriella's hand, instead his hand brushed against her lower back as he let her enter the room first.
Once the Bolton and Montez children were sitting in various spots around the living room, Jack started to talk, informing them all of the decisions they had made that afternoon, with the other parents occasionally adding a detail.
"We leave on the 1st of June," Jack started. "From here to LA, then on to a non-stop flight to New Zealand."
"Leaving here at 4.30 in the afternoon," Lucille added. "And leaving LA at ten minutes to midnight."
"When do we get to New Zealand?" Gabriella asked curiously, her eyes meeting with Troy's, suddenly the trip not seeming so bad if she got to spend time with the blue eyed boy that already made her heart flutter.