A/N: I know I'm a terrible author, but I really just lost the mojo for this story, even more so after December, BUT I had some great help, from a great author, and I got back on track and am enjoying writing this story again! I'm not gunna make any promises about updating fast, because my life is chaos right now, and will continue to be chaos for quite some time yet, but I haven't given this story up.
Now for the thanks to my great helper, Dani (Pandora147) for her ideas, suggestions, and general help, encouraging me to take this story where I had planned to take it originally! There's a little something in this chapter for you, Dani (it's a teeny bit obvious), thank you so much for your help!
Three hours later and Troy and Gabriella were done with the museum and were strolling hand and hand along the small stretch of golden sand that was Oriental Bay.
"I wonder how much sand they had to use to make this," Gabriella pondered, loving the pure colour of the sand.
"Beats me," Troy shrugged. "Are you hungry?"
"Starving," Gabriella replied. "Where do you want to eat?"
"I dunno," Troy shrugged. "I don't really want to wait for food though, I'm too hungry for that."
"We could walk back to the backpackers and stop somewhere along the way? I'm sure there's a McDonalds or a Subway somewhere around here," Gabriella suggested, shivering as the cold wind picked up.
The pair started to walk back along the beach, the wind getting stronger and stronger with every passing minute.
"Talk about four seasons in one day," Gabriella commented. "It had turned into a really nice, sunny day when we were in the museum, now it looks like it's going to rain!"
"We better hurry," Troy replied, tightening his grip on Gabriella's hand and tugging her into a faster walk.
The pair carried on their journey back to the hostel, fastening their steps as a few drops of rain started to fall, heading onto a full on run as the drops fell faster and more frequently until it was pouring with heavy rain.
Dripping wet, Troy and Gabriella finally reached the hostel, shaking his hair out of his eyes, Troy reached into his pocket for the room card, grinning at Gabriella as he produced it, but his grin dropped as Gabriella shivered.
"Come on baby," Troy slipped his hand back into Gabriella's. "You need a hot shower before you get sick."
"You don't get sick from being in the rain," Gabriella argued but Troy rolled his eyes at her, knowing he still wanted her to be dry and warm as soon as possible.
Their bedroom was larger than they had expected, with a queen sized bed in the middle, and a couch to one side of the room, under a window that overlooked the city street below and their bags had been placed next to the couch. On the other wall was the door to their small ensuite bathroom, and that was where Troy took Gabriella, turning on the hot water in the small glass shower before he got nervous, muttering to Gabriella that he would bring her bag into her so that she could shower and get warmed up, quickly.
Gabriella couldn't help but giggle at Troy's reaction to them being in a bathroom together when she was about to shower, because he was someone that was so confident most of the time, it was amusing to Gabriella when her boyfriend got all shy and nervous.
Troy all but threw Gabriella bag into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him quickly, leaving her to get out of her cold, wet clothes and climb under the hot spray of the shower.
This gave Troy a chance to give himself a mental pep talk as he paced the large, bare room, reminding himself that he wasn't pressuring Gabriella into anything she didn't want tonight, because she was a willing participant and he knew she would tell him if she didn't like something that was happening.
Knowing that she didn't have long to shower, Gabriella quickly washed her hair, lathering it up and then rinsing the bubbly shampoo out under the blissfully hot stream, before she quickly washed her body. When she stepped out of the shower, the cool air hit her body and made her grab for the towel, wrapping it around herself as she remembered that Troy was still in his wet clothes, and she could just get changed in the bedroom while he was having his shower.
Troy could have sworn his heart stopped beating when Gabriella stepped in front of him, wearing only a small, white towel around her semi-wet body, her wet curls hanging over her shoulders and falling into her face.
"I thought you might be wanting the shower quickly," Gabriella blushed as Troy stared at her. She hadn't thought about the fact that she would be standing in front of him as good as naked, she had just been concerned that he was in cold, wet clothes.
"Um," Troy cleared his throat as he felt himself harden in his wet jeans. "Thanks."
His gaze was locked on the drops of water that were disappearing under Gabriella's towel, and Troy desperately wanted to tear away the small piece of fabric to watch the droplets carry on down the smooth skin.
Troy took a step forward, towards the bathroom, but this only led to him standing directly in front of Gabriella, who bit her bottom lip at the close proximity of her boyfriend. Smiling nervously, Troy took a step to his left, at the exact same second Gabriella took a step to her right, landing them one step across the room, still standing directly in front of each other.
"I'm just gunna…" Troy trailed off, taking a quick step around Gabriella, stalking towards the bathroom, slamming the door behind him and resting against it heavily, mentally scolding himself for how close he had come to just attacking Gabriella instead of taking it slowly.
On the other side of the closed door, Gabriella slowly sat down on the edge of the hostel bed, her towel still clenched tightly around her body as she caught her breath. It was inevitable that her and Troy were going to have sex tonight, and as excited as Gabriella was for it, she was also equally as nervous, and wanted to take things slow, not just be ravished in the middle of the room.
Feeling more calm, Gabriella stood up, looking around the room for her bag so that she could get dressed before Troy got out of the bathroom, to avoid anymore awkward moments between them.
"Oh shit," Gabriella muttered, realising in her hurry to let Troy use the bathroom, she had left her bag in there, with all her clothes in it. She could still hear the water running in the shower, so she knew she would have to wait for Troy to be done with his shower before he could pass her out her bag.
Suddenly Gabriella felt how cold the room was, and she was very aware of the fact that there was an uncovered window in the room, which, although it was several floors up, was facing out into the street. Gabriella could hear the sounds of the street below, and so, clutching her towel tightly around her body, she darted across the room, reaching out to the curtain as soon as it was in her reach and pulling it across the room, plunging it into darkness.
A noise behind her startled Gabriella and she spun around quickly, being met by a confused looking Troy who's head was poking around the slightly open bathroom door.
"I heard you moving really quickly across the room, I was just making sure you were okay," Troy explained. "But why is the room dark? And why are you still…."
Troy trailed off, his face turning a light pink colour as he stopped himself from drawing attention to Gabriella's naked state, seeing that he was in the same state behind the door, only a small white towel wrapped around his waist.
"I realised my bag was in the bathroom," Gabriella explained nervously, biting down on her bottom lip. "And then I realised I was you know, not dressed, and the curtain was open, and yeah…"
The couple stood watching one another, Gabriella biting on her bottom lip as Troy reached up to run his hand through his wet hair, both lost in their own thoughts for a second, before Gabriella remembered about her bag.
"Um Troy? My bag?" She asked quickly, and Troy chuckled.
"Yeah and I left my bag in this room, should we just switch rooms?" Troy asked, deciding that would be easier than them passing each other their backpacks.
Gabriella nodded at the suggestion, starting to walk towards the bathroom as Troy stepped back and opened the bathroom door. Swallowing hard, Gabriella walked past Troy into the bathroom, feeling the heat radiating off his wet body as she passed him.
"Brie?" Troy asked and Gabriella turned around to face him. "I'm uh, I'm glad we get to do this. I mean, spend some time together."
Despite the awkwardness of the situation, Gabriella couldn't help but smile at Troy's stammering, a reminder that her boyfriend was just as nervous about the night as she was.
"Me too, Troy," Gabriella replied. "I'm very glad."
Unable to stop himself, Troy leant down for a small kiss, and Gabriella's eyes fluttered closed her his lips brushed against her own for a brief few seconds.
As they broke apart, the awkwardness set back in, and Troy quickly left the bathroom. Each of them quickly got dressed, and Gabriella stayed in the bathroom until Troy knocked on the bathroom door.
"It's um. It's safe to come out now," Troy called through to Gabriella, smiling when the door immediately opened and his girlfriend appeared. "Hey you."
"Hey yourself," Gabriella grinned, the pair standing in the bathroom doorway, smiles stretching from ear to ear as they watched one another, the awkwardness was gone for the time being, for now they were just two teenagers, in a new and exciting city, halfway across the world from their home, without parents.
As if sensing the teenagers' thoughts, Troy's phone rung loudly throughout the silent room, and Troy rolled his eyes, putting his hands on Gabriella's hips and shifting her gently to the side so he could reach his wet jeans laying on the bathroom floor, where he had left his phone.
"Hi Mom," Troy answered, turning back to Gabriella and pointing to the bed in the other room, following her as she climbed onto the soft surface.
"Yeah we went exploring, but we got caught in the rain on the way back to the hostel," Troy answered his Mom as he lay down on the bed, letting Gabriella snuggle into his side.
Gabriella's wet hair tickled Troy's nose as she cuddled into him and made him let out a small chuckle.
"No Gabriella just tickled me," Troy explained to his Mom. "I was going to take her to get something for dinner, but I don't know if I will now."
Pulling herself back so she could look at Troy's face, Gabriella poked her tongue out at the same time as she poked him in the ribs, making Troy jump back and let out a startled yell.
"I will make sure she gets food, Mom, I was just kidding," Troy groaned, grabbing Gabriella's good hand in his own as she lunged at him again, with her. "Even if she is being really mean right now."
Again, Gabriella poked her tongue out at Troy, pulling her hand out of his grasp and rolling over to face away from him.
"Yeah she's right here, I'll pass the phone to her. Bye Mom, love you."
Troy sidled up behind Gabriella, pressing his front to her back as he passed the phone over to her, "Your Mom wants to talk to you."
As Gabriella talked to her Mom, Troy decided she needed a taste of her own medicine, for trying to distracting him when he was on the phone to his Mom.
Propping himself up on one hand, Troy slid the other hand across Gabriella's hip, feeling her body stiffen against him as she tried to focus on what her Mom was saying.
Chuckling to himself, Troy dropped his hand lower, so he could slip under the thin material of Gabriella's thermal t-shirt, brushing his hand across Gabriella's warm skin until it was resting on her lower stomach.
This caused Gabriella's breath to hitch as her body instinctively moved back to press harder against Troy's front. Troy guessed her Mom must have heard her breathing change because Gabriella was stammering out an excuse.
"I'm just cold, Mama," Gabriella lied, trying to push Troy's hand away. "We got wet on the way home and I haven't put a sweatshirt back on, that's all."
Troy refused to move his hand, instead he started to slowly creep it up Gabriella's stomach, feeling Gabriella's muscles moving under his hand on it's journey.
"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Gabriella told her Mom, trying to quickly end the conversation, knowing if she stayed on the line any longer, Maria would end up asking Gabriella to tell her everything they had seen that day. "We are going to go and find something for dinner now."
After ending the conversation, Gabriella flipped herself over so she was facing Troy who was wearing a very smug smirk.
"That wasn't nice, Troy," Gabriella scolded, trying her hardest to look mad at her boyfriend, but failing dramatically.
"You didn't enjoy it?" Troy questioned, raising an eyebrow as Gabriella rolled her eyes at him.
"Shut up," Gabriella muttered, quickly closing the gap between their lips as Troy started to say another sarcastic comment.
Much preferring to kiss his girlfriend than sarcastically tease her, Troy kissed Gabriella back eagerly, and soon as the pair were heavily making out on the bed, the awkwardness that had left the room, made a reappearance.
The fact that they were alone, without parents, had gone from being an exciting feeling, to a nerve-wracking feeling for both of the teenagers who now lay side by side on the bed, their hair messy and their clothes rumpled, their chests heaving with their laboured breathing and their lips tingling from the make-out session.
Troy was the first to speak, breaking the silence that had come over them when Troy had rolled onto his back, pulling Gabriella with him so that she was straddling him, in a position that reminded them of what they were both planning, and hoping the night would be ending with.
"Um, are you hungry?" Troy asked quietly, sitting up to look at Gabriella who had flushed cheeks.
"I am," Gabriella confirmed, sitting up as well, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and standing up. "It's still raining outside though."
Troy nodded, the sound of the rain hitting the room's window was loud in the otherwise quiet room. "Did you see anything that was close by that counts as food?"
"Just a McDonalds, right next door," Gabriella recalled seeing the popular fast-food restaurant as they crossed the road outside the railway station. "I guess that counts as food. And we won't get wet walking there."
"I can even order you something that resembles a three-course meal," Troy teased, the awkwardness once again lifting.
Half an hour later and Gabriella and Troy had finished the first two "courses" of their meal. They had started with some crispy chicken nuggets, with two kinds of dipping sauce, followed by a burger each and some fries, though Troy had eaten more than double the amount of fries from their shared pile.
"What do you want for dessert, Brie?" Troy asked, straining to see the menu from where he was sitting. "Do they have McFlurries here?"
"Ooh can I have an m&m McFlurry?" Gabriella asked excitedly. "No wait, an Oreo one. No, no, I want an m&m one, oh I just can't decide!"
Troy laughed at his girlfriend, sometimes he found her too adorable for words, and this just made him fall more and more in love with her everytime.
"What about I get us one of each, and we can share?" Troy suggested, and Gabriella nodded. "Do you want an apple pie too?"
"Ooh yes please," Gabriella replied as she stood up. "I'll be back in a minute."
Leaving Troy to order their dessert, Gabriella headed towards where the bathrooms were located, to quickly check her hair, a girly habit that Gabriella didn't usually possess.
There was only one other girl in the dimly lit bathroom and Gabriella situated herself at the spare sink next to the stranger, leaning forward and gasping as she saw what looked like a zit on her chin.
"Just the lighting," Gabriella muttered to herself, running her index finger across the spot just to make sure.
The stranger next to Gabriella let out a small laugh and Gabriella's eyes met hers in the mirror.
The girl had dark blonde hair that was wet from the rain that she too had obviously been caught in, and her grey-blue eyes were sparkly and kind looking, which matched the friendly, happy smile that danced on her face.
"Hi I'm Dani," the girl introduced herself, in an Australian accent. "Big night tonight?"
"I'm Gabriella, and yeah, very big night," Gabriella sighed nervously. "Are you from around here?"
"I'm from Sydney," Dani explained. "I'm here to see my favourite actor at the red carpet at his new movie premiere."
"Oh that's cool!" Gabriella exclaimed. "I've never done anything like that before, go to a whole other country for such a cool reason. I'm here on vacation with my family."
"So big night with a random kiwi guy?" Dani asked, confusion on her face. It was clear to her that Gabriella was nervous because of a guy, but she didn't seem like the kind of girl to have a vacation hook-up.
"No, my boyfriend, the son of my Dad's best friend who we are on vacation with," Gabriella explained. "We're in the city for the night without our families, and yeah, I think you can guess the reason I'm in here spilling my guts nervously to a stranger."
"Are you ready to take this step in your relationship?" Dani asked bluntly, and Gabriella immediately nodded her head, not needing to think about the question at all.
"I'm in love with him," Gabriella confessed. "I'm ready, so I don't know why I'm nervous and why we're being so awkward."
"It's a natural thing to be awkward about," Dani shrugged. "Especially if it's both your first time. You'll be wanting to get everything perfect, for the other person, but really, the perfection is in the act, no matter how awkward and fumbled. Plus, once you do it the first time and the awkwardness is gone, you get to do it over and over until it is perfect!"
"You give good advice," Gabriella smiled. "How did you get so wise?"
After the talk with Dani, the random Australian in the bathroom, Gabriella went back to Troy, forgetting all about making sure her hair was perfect, just wanting to enjoy the time and opportunity they were having without their families around.
"Hi," Gabriella grinned as she sat back down in the booth the pair were sitting at for their meal, as she sat down she gave Troy a quick kiss, surprising him. "Sorry I took so long."
"That's okay, they took ages to make our dessert anyway, so the ice cream isn't melted," Troy smiled, drawing the two ice creams closer to them. "Now they didn't have Oreo McFlurries, but they do have malteser ones, and by the look of things, a malteser is like a whopper, do you still want to share?"
It didn't take long for the delicious ice creams and apple pies to be consumed, and Troy and Gabriella decided to head back to the hostel, since the weather was getting worse as the night wore on, so there was no where else they were planning on going.
As they left McDonalds, Gabriella saw Dani sitting at a table with a group of girls, smiling at each other, Gabriella waved, and Dani winked at her, pointing at Troy and giving Gabriella the thumbs up.
"What was that about? Who was the girl?" Troy asked, puzzled.
"Just a girl I talked to in the bathroom," Gabriella shrugged. "She had some really good advice for me."