A/N: So I was going to make this a super long chapter, but I'm feeling guilty at how long it's taken to get this out, and now I'm sick (managed to get a chest, ear and throat infection all at the same time, woo me) and my typing is incredibly poor (therefore apologies for any mistakes in this, blame the meds) so consider this a teaser for the next chapter :)
As usual, thanks for all your support with this story!
The day after the Zoo trip, Troy and Gabriella were being left to their own devices, this time in the heart of the city, and over breakfast Gabriella was excitedly informing Troy about what she wanted to do that day.
"Sounds like you have a lot planned," Maria teased her daughter as she listened to her rambling on to an amused looking Troy.
"I think we're going to need two days to do it all," Troy grinned squeezing Gabriella's hand to show her that he was just having fun with her.
"Well that's the thing," Lucille interrupted. "We were talking last night and Gabriella, your Dad mentioned this place we thought we'd stay for the last few nights of our time here."
"Besides the zoo, there wasn't really anywhere that the boys wanted to go," Joseph added in. "We talked to them and gave them the choice of activities in town, or bush walks and things at this local national park."
"So we don't get to go back into town?" Gabriella asked sadly, thoughts of strolling through the botanical gardens and the Museum of New Zealand with Troy filling her mind.
Gabriella and Troy looked at each other with a confused expression on their faces as they noticed their parents all communicating with eyebrow raises and smirks on their faces.
"What's going on?" Troy asked nervously, sensing that this was either going to be bad, or something that would seem like a test.
"Well we all decided that you two are both 17, and if we were back home, no doubt you would be spending a lot more time alone together than you do here," Maria started.
"And you know we're doing our best to trust you and your…. developing relationship," Joseph added in, holding his gaze on Troy as if daring the teenager to break his trust.
"So we've decided the two of you - if you want – can stay at a hostel in town tonight, so you're free to explore Wellington today, and tomorrow, and we'll come back and pick you up from here tomorrow night and take you to Rimutaka Park with the rest of us for the last night here," Jack informed the teenagers who both broke out into huge grins.
"Now this hostel has both dorm rooms and twin rooms, so the two of you can book into either of these rooms when you get into town today, the hostel is right by the train station, the lady we talked to said you can't miss it."
"We're letting the two of you decide what kind of room you want to stay in."
"And we don't particularly want to know your choice," Joseph informed them, earning himself a glare from the other three parents.
"Don't make us regret this decision, okay?" Lucille said to Troy with a smile and Troy nodded his head hurriedly.
"I promise, Mom," Troy agreed, dropping Gabriella's hand and standing up to kiss his Mom on the cheek before reaching over to give Maria a quick, one-armed hug.
"Well you two better go and pack," Jack told the pair. "There's a bus that will take you to the train station leaving in a half hour."
The pair got up and went to their separate motorhomes, each grabbing a backpack to take with them and filling it with some clothes for the next day and something to sleep in that night.
Troy's packing took less than a few minutes, and he lay down on his bed and grabbed his phone, sending Gabriella a quick txt message.
Can't believe I get to spend tonight with you.
Gabriella was just having a small freak out about her only pyjamas being completely boring and practical when her phone beeped on her bed and she snatched it up, knowing it would be Troy.
I take it we're not going to go with the bedding option our parents are hoping we'll take?
Hitting send, Gabriella went back to looking through her suitcase, deciding to grab some clothes for the next day before she came back to her pyjama situation. Just as she was stuffing a pair of jeans and a dark green hoody into her backpack her phone beeped again and she read the txt with a smile on her face.
It's up to you. Whatever you feel comfortable with, baby.
Gabriella couldn't believe how sweet Troy was, she knew that if she said she wanted to dorm share with other people, he would agree to it, but she also knew that she wanted nothing more than to spend some time with Troy, both hanging out with him exploring the town, and alone together, exploring their relationship.
Bedroom for two, in that case.
Grabbing a pair of black satin pyjama pants and a grey, long-sleeved thermal top to wear to bed that night and stuffing them in her backpack, Gabriella flopped back down on her bed to read the message that Troy had just sent back and she bit her bottom lip as she read beyond the five simple words on her screen.
I can't wait for it.
Just as Gabriella was about to reply, another txt message came through and so she read it, seeing it was from Troy, informing her that he was ready and would meet her outside. Determined not to miss a second of time she could be with her boyfriend, Gabriella quickly sat up, shoving her phone into the pocket of her jeans, and grabbing a black puffer jacket before she slung her backpack over her left shoulder and climbed down the ladder to the rest of the motorhome.
Troy couldn't help the smile that crossed his face when Gabriella came out grinning, he took her in her appearance, noting she was wearing her apparently usual uniform of jeans and a hoody, and he was willing to bet that underneath she'd be wearing a long sleeved t-shirt layered with a regular t-shirt. It occurred to Troy that he'd never been attracted to a girl that didn't seem to try to look good, she just effortlessly was the most beautiful thing he'd laid eyes on, simply by being herself, and he loved that about her.
"All ready to go, kids?" Jack asked, breaking the intense stares that Troy and Gabriella were giving each other, having forgotten about the other people standing with them.
"Umm yeah," Troy mumbled, tearing his eyes away from Gabriella and turning to his Dad. "Well I am."
"I'm ready too," Gabriella informed Troy, walking over to first her Mom who she hugged and then her Dad, giving him a kiss on his cheek and smiling reassuringly at him. "See you guys at the train station tomorrow?"
"We'll be there, sweetheart, 4 o'clock okay?" Lucille informed her as Troy gave her a kiss on the top of her head. "Have fun exploring Wellington, don't forget to take pictures for us."
"Oh!" Gabriella cried out, turning to Troy, an apologetic look on her face. "My camera is inside, I'll just go and grab it okay?"
Troy grinned at Gabriella as he nodded his head. "Go ahead, baby."
The pet-name didn't go unnoticed by anyone, Troy and Gabriella both immediately blushed, avoiding their parents' gazes. Maria and Lucille looked at each other with huge smiles on their faces and Jack chuckled while Joseph looked unhappy.
Within minutes, Gabriella emerged and the four parents watched as their two children walked away from them, their fingers interwoven together, tightly, and each of the parents sighed to themselves, their babies were really grown up now.
As they walked away from their parents who were experiencing a moment of sadness, Gabriella started talking excitedly to Troy.
"Can we go to Te Papa today?" She asked Troy, not even giving him the time to answer before ths carried on with more questions. "What about the botanical gardens and the cable car? Ooh and a walk along the waterfront to that beach what's it called? Oh yeah, Oriental Parade!"
"What did you do, Brie? Memorize the whole "Sightseers Guide to Wellington" or something?" Troy teased as they approached the road outside of the camping ground and crossed over to the green bus shelter which was situated directly across the road.
"Don't tease me or we'll be sleeping the way our parents hope we are," Gabriella scolded and Troy groaned at her, sitting down on the bench and tugging Gabriella to sit in his lap.
"Don't mention us… sleeping together and our parents in the same sentence, baby," he whined, burying his face in Gabriella's neck. "Mmm you smell nice."
Gabriella was going to reply but she lost her train of thought as she felt Troy's soft, warm lips pressing lightly on the exposed skin of her neck, moving up to her jaw where he started sucking lightly.
"Troy," Gabriella whimpered, forgetting they were sitting at a bus shelter on a busy road.
She pushed herself back into his chest to get closer to his teasing lips which were now leaving quick, brushing kisses, scattered across her neck.
"You want me to stop?" Troy whispered huskily in her ear, tightening his grip on her waist as he sucked her earlobe into his mouth.
"Umm, no," Gabriella moaned softly. "But you need to, the um, bus."
Troy glanced upwards, seeing a purple bus approaching them, slowing down to stop so they could board. Huffing, Troy moved his mouth away from Gabriella, loosing his grip and letting her stand before he followed, trying not to be obvious as he rearranged the front of his pants where Gabriella had been squirming just seconds before.
"Two tickets to Petone station," Troy asked the driver, mispronouncing the place name as 'pee-tone'.
"Petone," Gabriella corrected him, making the bus driver smile at the way she said the correct pronunciation of "pet-oh-knee" in her American accent.
"That's $2.50 thanks," the bus driver said and Troy opened his wallet, looking through the notes he had in there for the $5 bill he knew he had.
"What colour is the $5?" Troy asked Gabriella quietly and Gabriella thought for a second.
"Orange?" She asked uncertainly and the bus driver nodded, still smiling at the two and how utterly lost they seemed.
"Thanks," the bus driver said as he took the note and gave Troy his change and the two tickets so they could go and sit down.
Troy was glad there weren't many people on the bus, to witness his complete fail of the place name and locating the right money for the trip. They easily found two seats near the front of the bus and settled in for the five minute trip to the train station, discussing quietly as they drove along the Petone Esplanade, trying to work out if what they could see across the harbour was Wellington City and what the random little island was in the middle of nowhere.
"Maybe that's where they put all the convicts or something," Troy laughed and Gabriella shook her head.
"I'm sure there'll be something along the waterfront that will tell us, if that over there is Wellington City," Gabriella replied. "So where are we going to go first?"
As the bus pulled into the train station, Troy and Gabriella had decided on their itinerary for the next two days, with that day planned to walk along the waterfront til they got to the City and Sea Museum, which a friendly lady on the bus had suggested they visit if they wanted to learn more about Wellington. After that they would continue the walk along the waterfront til they got to the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa and after they had been there, they would walk up to Oriental Parade, a man-made beach that was a short walk from Te Papa. If they weren't too tired after all of that, they would walk back through the shopping district of Wellington City, Cuba and Manners Mall where they would find an early dinner and then walk back down to near the train station where their hostel for the night was.
It was a packed day, but there was so much Gabriella was eager to see, and Troy too was eager to see as much of the city as there was to see. The next day would be more relaxed, with a trip on the cable car to the Botanical Gardens, a walk around the University that was situated nearby before a visit to the New Zealand Parliament Building, the Beehive where Gabriella had promised Taylor she would take pictures.
Both Troy and Gabriella were glad of the weather that day, since they had lots of walking planned, it wasn't too cold, nor too windy as the waited for the train, and a little bit of sun tried to peek through the clouds at them. After a few minutes wait, the train arrived and the pair climbed aboard, easily finding a seat and settling down.
Gabriella clutched Troy's hand nervously as the train sped along next to the sea, the waves that were pounding the rocks sent splashes of water onto the window they were seated next to.
"You really aren't a traveller, are you?" Troy teased, remembering how Gabriella had clutched his hand in the same way when they were landing in New Zealand.
"Do you see how close we are to the water?" Gabriella mumbled, and Troy decided to needed to distract her a bit before she drew blood from his hand.
Using his free hand, Troy cupped the side of Gabriella's face, turning her to look at him, her dark eyes were clouded with fright and Troy smiled at her, trying to calm her down.
"Hey baby," he cooed, his thumb brushing along her tightened jaw. "Don't think about it, okay?"
Gabriella gave a small nod, her grip on Troy's hand loosening slightly as she forgot about the waves crashing next to them and got lost in the playful blue of Troy's eyes.
"Better?" Troy whispered, his thumb still brushing lightly over Gabriella's jaw, the sparks of passion between the igniting with just the simple touch and Gabriella struggled to remember to nod, feeling herself drawn to Troy's lips which were curled up in a half smirk.
Seeing Gabriella leaning in for a kiss, Troy bent his head down to meet her lips, his hand sliding along her face and into her hair, holding her face to his in an unnecessary move as their lips pressed together in a few short, sweet kisses.
"So beautiful," Troy murmured as they broke apart, their foreheads still touching.
Gabriella blushed at his comment, said like he was telling her a simple fact such as the sky was blue, or spring came before summer.
"Don't roll your eyes," Troy lightly scolded, brushing their lips together once more. "I'm just so amazed that someone can go to so little effort in their appearance and still be the most beautiful, sexy thing I have ever seen."
Instinctively, Gabriella wanted to roll her eyes again, and had it been anyone but the boy she was falling hard for, she would've followed that instinct and argued the compliment. But there was just something about the way Troy's face looked so sincere when he spoke the words, the way his eyes drilled into hers and his words flowed so smoothly as if they were second nature for him to think.
So instead, Gabriella obliged to her other instinctive feelings and threw her arms around her boyfriend's neck and kissed him with all the passion and pure love that she could muster, knowing that tonight, she was going to give her all to Troy.