Amazing lazy day. I wish more of them could be like that.

It's 12:36 pm, my second day-off and me, Taylor and Martha are laying in my living room, re-watching "Back to the Future" because the movie can never get too old.

Girls claimed that their feet were steel aching from their walk yesterday and me… I just never can pass up an opportunity to laze around watching good movies, I guess. Sharpay fled off early in the morning claiming that she had some errands to run (which was weird), Ryan, too, didn't stay, saying something incoherent about having to visit some music store (which was even more weird), leaving the three of us all to ourselves.

Just as Marty was explaining Doc that he was back again from the future, my phone buzzed, receiving a text from Troy.

Heey. Dancing again today?:)

I bit my lip, trying to keep my face expression neutral for the girls.

Yep, Tay said that every1 can make it. 2day at 6

Hope it won't be for long

Why? Tired of me already?;)

I'm always tired of you. You're impossible.

Impossibly amazing u mean;) Btw, how's ur bump?

I couldn't keep myself from rolling eyes at this.

And don't roll ur eyes at me! I can see it :p

Aren't u just mr sunshine today?

What can I say? I like to bring happiness to people

Could've fooled me

Just to u then;)

Use the ointment. I mean it. Got2go

What's that warm liquid flowing through me right now? It's making me dizzy. My cellphone buzzed again, this time causing my eyebrows to furrow in confusion, not masking any emotions.

- A very enthralling conversation, huh? – Martha's voice caught my attention, causing me to look up from my phone for a second.

- It's Shar. Hey, did you notice that she started to behave strangely lately?

- The moment I met her I thought the girl had the words 'strange' and 'chaos' written in her DNA. – Taylor said, turning her head to us.

- Really? I think the words 'pink' and 'fabulous' should be there too. – Martha added.

- You poor souls, you weren't too much of genetics before college, were you? – I smiled toothily at their glares. My phone buzzed again, bringing my attention back to it.

G! I just saw Ryan here.

With some MYSTERY WOMAN!!!!

I know, I know. Can she be more dramatic, right? I have no idea what she's talking about, though. Taylor and Martha looked confused too, after I've shown them the messages. Another message. This time, it's a picture. A very bad quality picture made without focus in a crowd of people, the side of it was dark, as if the picture was taken from behind a corner, showing our friend in a hat walking side by side with some girl. I don't know who it was, but for some reason I choked on a laugh. I can almost see Sharpay starring in the next Charlie's Angels movie, spying on poor unsuspecting people.

- Who's that? – Martha asked, squinting at the screen.

- I have no idea. – I said giggling. – But whoever it is, this person should beware of Ryan's ninja-sister. – After some thinking, what is Sharpay doing there, hiding behind the corners somewhere in town?

I don't know who it is, Shar. What are u doin there?

I was just passing and saw him. Anyways, g2g!

I shook my head in confusion. Well, what can I do? Might as well go and apply that freaking ointment.

- Is it just me or is something going on today? – Troy asked me softly, speaking directly in my ear during our dance rehearsal later in the evening, so that nobody else can hear. I sighed.

- Something's going on with Sharpay, and now Ryan, too. Shar's seen him walking with some woman at the street today.

- Oh no! Is he grounded now?

- Careful, I'm not so in tune with my feet. – I warned him in a sweet voice. He chuckled.

- Noted. – Pause. – So he's really not gay.

- I thought Shar told that he wasn't one.

- She also said that you two aren't sleeping together.

- That phrase is too bothering to repeat.

- So there's nothing going on between you two? – I looked at him in a 'et tu, Brute' sort of way to which he just smiled sheepishly. – You just seem so comfortable with him. And I've never seen you comfortable around guys.

- I'm feeling pretty comfortable with you too right now, is something going on between us? – I really should think before I say something. The question sounded so bold, I'm surprised I'm not a blushing mess. Yet.

Troy smirked, raising his eyebrows.

-I don't know… You tell me.

Here comes my blush. Thankfully, at that moment Ryan clapped his hands to catch everybody's attention, thus rescuing me from having to answer.

- Splendid work, everyone! Taylor, Chad, Zeke and my wonderful sister, of course – great. Troy and Gabs, you improved so much, you guys are amazing. Martha, also good. Don't worry about Jason; Chad told me that Jason has a day off tomorrow so I'll work with him some extra-time, right, Jason?

Jason nodded dejectedly. I feel sorry for him.

I started towards my car, pausing to look for any passengers.

- I'll stay here with Chad, Gabs, while Ryan rehearses with Jason, so don't wait for me. – Taylor said, noticing my pause.

- How about I ride with you and Zeke takes Sharpay and Martha to the hotel? – Troy piped in. – You don't mind, dude?

- Course not, I live in that direction anyways. It's won't make sense for you to make such a detour to the hotel.

- Cool. Let's go then, Brie.

It kind of felt like he was making decisions for me, and I'm not sure what it makes me feel like. So I had to simply shrug and follow him to my car after waving goodbye at my friends.

- An alcohol battleship? Seriously?

I had no idea such thing exists.

- Don't you dare insult an alcohol Battleship game, woman. – Troy almost growled threateningly at me, squinting his eyes.

- Whoa, calm down, pirate. – I raised my hands in surrender. – I'm not even sure what it is but alright, whatever floats your boat… No pun intended.

Troy snorted and shook his head, leaning back in his arm chair. We are sitting in his living room, in a middle of a so called 'discussion' of Chad's bachelor party, accompanied by gleeful squeaking sounds of Gabby chewing on her toy.

It may not seem like it at first, but Troy is sure one artful guy. I mean, after we returned home the plan was to part our ways: Troy should've gone to walk with Gabby and I… don't know, go watch TV or read something from my endless amounts of books. That was my plan. Troy, on the other hand, had no such intention, it seems. After we returned I was practically dragged to go walk with them; after that was time to treat my forehead, again, and I was just sternly told to 'sit and put up with it'. We'll need to discuss his bossy attitude. I really don't remember applying my resume.

And right now, it is about half past nine and I have no idea what am I still doing here. As I said, we're having a 'discussion', which is really more Troy talking and me listening. Hence the air quotes. Oh, and we are waiting for pizza. Actually, I announce it to be the sole reason for my remaining here. Because nobody dares to reject pizza.

- Care to explain what does this oh-so-famous game entail at least?

This made Troy sit straight up, crossing his arms pretentiously, which thankfully looked funny enough for me to focus on keeping the giggles down instead of ogling at his arms, which seemed to bulge this way.

- Do you have any knowledge of Battleship game at all? Or should I not waste my time with such uneducated person?

I've heard somewhere that if a person is attracted to someone, he will find even the stupidest jokes spoken by the object of attraction to be the most hilarious things in the world. I only hope that Troy hasn't heard of this fact, because I laughed at his actions. Maybe I'm just an easily amused person.

- I know about it. I just can't imagine how you managed to include alcohol in it.

- It is rather easy. Players just need bigger boards to place shots instead of 'ships'. The bigger the ship, the stronger shots the boats include. When the opposite player hits the right spot you drink the shot.

- Uh-huh. Isn't it a little boring for a party?

- Whoa. – Troy turned his head at me with surprise. – Never thought I'd hear Gabriella Montez describe an alcohol game as 'boring'.

I rolled my eyes at that.

- Well, it is an alright game for a long evening, I guess, and for people more like me… Not for party goers, and especially not for a bachelor party. To my mind. And considering the consistence of your drink supplies, it will be easier for you to arrange an actual live sea battleship game, not an alcohol one…

- Aaah, will you stop going on about that? – Troy groaned through a smile, throwing his head back. I was in a midst of giggles again. – I'm sure it's not that weird.

I could disagree with that. I've never ever seen so much water in one apartment. For one person. Seriously, there're like gallons of water here. In small bottles, in middle bottles, in those huge ones too. There're so many, that I'm actually considering transferring him in my mind from Spiderman to Aqua man. Wait, is it normal for a 25 year old to think about things like that?

I made a noise of disagreement.

- I'm pretty sure it is. And I still don't hear a sane explanation. Other than you needing to put out the blaze of admiration you receive from your millions of fangirls.

- Did I say millions? More like zillions.

- No wonder you became a fireman.

- I know, right?

I laughed out loud, not being able to prevent it any longer.

- You're a dork.

- But a splashing one.

I only laughed harder, almost tearing up. Gabby started barking, wanting to join in on our excitement. Catching my breath I amused her a little, throwing her a toy. After some time she settled down again, chewing her toy contentedly. I pushed my rather disheveled braid over my shoulder. Looking up, I saw that Troy was watching me closely.

- What?

- You didn't disagree with me.

Eeh… What?

- I'm confused. – I said honestly. When should I have agreed or disagreed about something?

Troy grinned smugly.

- You think that I have zillions of fangirls! Bet you were one of them at some point in time…

I gasped.

- You really over estimate yourself.

- Of course. Now you say so. Just when you realized that you're busted.

Look at his overly smug face! Just. Look at it. Don't you a have an urge to bring him down from his high of self-absorbance? Cause I do.

From the corner of my eye I saw a very conveniently placed cushion. Perfect. As fast as I could I snatched it, attacking my opponent with it. Considering Troy's incredulous face expression, I really caught him off guard. After a few of my punches, he came to his senses pretty fast though, swiftly grabbing the cushion and throwing it away from me. Despite the joyous atmosphere I almost felt scared at the moment, because of the mix of amusement, laughter, determination and something else that I couldn't quite decipher, that I saw in his eyes. My fears weren't so causeless. Smiling slowly, not showing his teeth and moving just as slowly towards me; he almost looked like a maniac.

Then, he started tickling me mercilessly.

As for me, I don't think that it was such a smart move. I am very ticklish. I am so ticklish that almost anything can happen. For example, I can kick one in the balls accidentally.

With a loud shriek I tried to group myself, so that he would have less tickling space. It was no use though, he was simply too strong.

- Nooo…. Stop – I said through tears of laughter, trying to catch my breath. Troy was chuckling himself, clearly enjoying my helplessness. – Please! I can't!

Gabby started barking again and Troy finally let go of me. Phew! Thank God!

- Now my stomach hurts. – I pouted at him after regaining my breath, holding my sides. It really starts to hurt after some time. Told you I was bad with tickling.

- Didn't know you were such a softy. – He smiled at me, his eyes light. – Seriously, it hurts?

- Nah, just a little, I'm just exaggerating, I'm fine. – I said quite rapidly, because I saw something light up in him, like the times when he talks to me about my bruise. His caring side is adorable but sometimes is completely unpredictable, not mentioning that it can get too much.

- I'm sorry, Brie. Though, I have to admit that you look delightfully when you're all a ball of laughing cuteness.

See what I told you? At times like this he turns on his 'I'll make you blush no matter what' side.

I shook my head, blushing profusely, ignoring him getting near me.

- Stop being so dramatic. What are you, Sharpay? I…

Though I was looking at him this entire time, I still jumped in surprise when he placed his hands on my sides, smiling softly at me. His hands felt so warm and comforting… It wasn't a new feeling for me; the guy is my dance partner after all, but there's something different between being touched in the middle of the dance and right now, when we're simply sitting at the sofa without any need for physical contact. It felt more intimate and special this way, especially considering that he kept moving his hands up and down slowly in a soothing motion.

- Yeah? – He asked in a soft voice, raising his eye-brows a little with a smile, looking as if he was perfectly at control of the situation. Which he was, to be honest, cause just at that moment I realized that I stopped breathing a moment or two ago and probably looked like a dear in the headlights. I blinked.

- What are you doing? – Was the only thing that could come out of my mouth. Not very inventive, and of course, if I'm just imagining the scene it could lead me to pure embarrassment; but at that exact moment the air around us seemed excruciatingly heavy and all my thoughts revolved around the fact that nothing is happening when it probably should.

He smiled once again, kindly this time with a twinge of some other emotion I was too busy to figure out. Casting down his hypnotizing gaze to the lower part of my face he moved his head closer to mine, eventually connecting our foreheads. It felt so surreal, but so familiar and right at the same time, that I actually arched my back to bring our faces even closer, rubbing his nose with mine which brought out another knee-weakening smile from him. Nudging our noses he leaned more, brushing his lips over mine very slightly, so slightly that I almost didn't feel it. Just as I was about to end this sweet torture by myself the doorbell rang, causing our eyes to fly open.

- That's probably pizza. – Troy said, not moving an inch from his position, staring me in the eyes.

- Of course it is.

I couldn't help my tone. But I think that little to nothing more predictable can happen, than a delivery ringing the door, just as I was about to kiss Troy Bolton.

My response seemed to amuse him, as he gave me a wide satisfied grin, swiftly nudged my cheek with his nose and fled to the door.

Oooooph. I think I need some alone time right now. I need to think about it. Because if earlier I doubted that Troy can be interested in me, now it was obvious. Wait. Was it? What if it was imagination again? How come I acted so confident when we were so close? What does it mean? Not so long ago he pretended that we were strangers, couple of days ago we established that we're friends and now this? What if he just saw something in my eye and came closer to look at it? What if…

- You think so much you didn't even notice me entering with pizza that you claimed earlier to be the sole purpose of your presence here. Penny for your thoughts?

I took a deep breath.

- We should really move on with our searching for your party, I have to work tomorrow morning.

After placing himself on the couch beside me with pizza in between us, he gave a side smile.

- You have a weird timetable.

- It will be that way for some time. – I leaned forward to grab his laptop.

- Hey, - he brought my attention to him, wiping his hands on the jeans. – When did I start to make you feel uncomfortable?

Forever and never at the same time.

- I can't say that I'm uncomfortable exactly, considering that I just took part in something… intimate, with someone I established as 'friend'. - I dead panned, saying frowardly. Intimate is the right word. Because we didn't really do anything, it was just too tender and made my insides jump in different directions. – If I was feeling uncomfortable, I wouldn't be even sitting here, talking to you, believe me.

- I do. – He said simply, looking at me with something close to interest shining in his eyes.

- Good. So..

- So now is not the time to close up on me.

- I'm not..

I didn't get to finish the sentence yet again, for the numerous time this evening. And I would have felt really pissed off if I wasn't engaged in some activity. While I was carefully trying to hold my mind together and not start to behave crazy Troy just placed his left hand on the back of my head, and the next thing I felt was him kissing me.

AN: I am a very bad, lazy and procrastinating person. I can write a lot of excuses, but I don't think it really matters or that anybody should know about it.) I'm afraid there's now none of you left who are still interested in this story, but if there are, I hope this update will cheer you up somewhat and that you have a nice day:)

Most of the story is written already and the closer it comes to the end, the harder it is to write for some reason. But I needed to get back in this, so as a result this chapter may be a little jumbled. That's for you to decide:) As for right now, I've already started writing the next chapter, so I'm hoping it will be ready next week.

Possible feedback and reviews are always appreciated