DISCLAIMER: I do not own High School Musical or any related characters.
A/N: So, I started writing this at around midnight a couple of days ago, had a scare because my Microsoft word documents all closed down without warning (thank God for document recovery!) and then didn't have time to finish it all off because of schoolwork. Honestly, it seems like you think you're finally free of homework for a few hours and then bam! There's schoolwork that you haven't done that sneakily appears out of no where! Anyway, new chapter. Just to let you know, Troy kinda has a flash of something close to humanity in this chapter and there's something that's kind of a teaser somewhere in this chapter. Enjoy!
Dangerous Fascination
CHAPTER 15
ICE
What the hell was wrong with him? Hadn't he decided that he was going to stay as far away from her as possible?
Apparently, he couldn't even stick to that decision.
It was the first time he hadn't been able to put theory into practice and it pissed him off immeasurably.
If he'd known he was going to react that way to her when she walked into the room, he would have skipped homeroom or school altogether. He would have taken the cowardly way and he wouldn't have given a damn.
Bouncing the basketball, Troy wondered if Gabriella knew exactly how much of an effect she'd had on him when she'd walked into homeroom. It was the first time he hadn't been able to detach himself in someway from a situation and, Troy caught the ball and shot, he wondered if she'd known that when she'd seen him in the hallway afterwards.
She'd been a little bit frightened of him in the hallway, Troy thought as he moved forward to catch the ball. Not as frightened as she'd been a month before, but there had been that flicker of fear in her eyes that had irritated some part of him. What had she expected? She'd walked into homeroom looking innocently fragile.
Reluctantly, Troy remembered the way she had stood hesitantly in the doorway, clutching the strap of her bag and glancing nervously from the class to Darbus. Dressed, Troy thought, in a dress designed to make any male within a five mile radius shift uncomfortably as all the blood rushed southward. In that dress, the white flowing over the curves he'd possessed not twelve hours before, she should have looked the opposite of untouched. She should have looked ready for anything.
But she hadn't. The dress had made her seem fragile, the look in her ebony eyes innocent, the blush which had spread graceful. Gracefully innocent, Troy thought, gracefully fragile. He could handle both at different times, but together they were a combination that made any resolve he'd made unimportant.
A combination that had him feeling protective and possessive all at once.
That, Troy thought as he glared up at the hoop, was what was pissing him off above anything else. The rush of emotions that he hadn't been able to control had irritated him; they had made him furious enough to punch Chad to get him to shut up. He didn't want every male in his homeroom to notice her legs. Part of that, Troy had to admit, was selfishness. He knew Gabriella was gorgeous, knew that she had a body that made males wonder what it would be like to explore it and he wanted to be the only one to explore it. The other part, well, the other part was because he knew Gabriella wouldn't be able to handle the attention. He knew that Gabriella would be more terrified than flattered if she suddenly had to handle a hundred different guys wanting a piece of her.
That part of him, the part that had begun to remind him constantly of what he'd realized the night before, was the part that was expressing worry over how Gabriella was handling being watched. Watched, Troy thought, like she was piece of meat.
He wondered if the fact that she was wearing his jacket would deter any of them and then knew that it wouldn't. To deter them, he would have to show more of an interest than shoving his jacket into her hands and asking her to put it on. Troy wondered how much of an interest he was meant to show to scare them off.
Before he could consider it, Troy glanced up as the gym door swung shut with a bang. He managed to control any semblance of emotion when he looked up to see Chad standing there with his arms folded.
Troy sighed, letting the ball he'd collected drop to the ground, knowing where this was heading and wondering how much he could not tell Chad. If he knew his best friend as well as he did, Chad was already putting two and two together and coming up with the answer he wasn't going to be that impressed with.
"Yesterday, you took her home, didn't you?" Troy shrugged before nodding. As much as he hated it, he couldn't lie to Chad. They'd been friends since kindergarten and Chad was the only person, aside from Christy and his father, who could withstand his ice and know what, exactly, was happening behind the frozen walls he'd constructed.
"Yeah. I took her home. You're not going to turn this into a girly talk, are you?" Chad shrugged, scooping up the basketball and spinning it on his finger.
"I haven't decided. Did you fuck her?" Something inside Troy clenched at Chad's question. He didn't like the way it sounded and he especially didn't like the way Chad used in context with Gabriella.
"No." Troy controlled his voice to amusement, the touch of ice the only indication to the flare of temper he'd felt at the question. Chad raised an eyebrow, hearing the ice and wondering about it.
"Okay." Chad studied Troy for a moment as Troy shoved his hands into his pockets in a deliberately casual movement. "Jesus, dude, you've fallen for her, haven't you?" Troy wasn't sure whether he was shocked at Chad's guess or impressed that he'd gotten it right.
He decided to be neither and shrugged instead. He felt a twist of amusement when Chad nearly dropped the ball he was spinning and then frowned when he realized that Chad was going to want a confirmation of his guest. One that required him to say it out loud and Troy knew there was no way he could do that. He couldn't say the words out loud because it would make what he'd realized last night real and if there was one thing he'd learnt, some things were better left unsaid. Some things were better unreal than real.
"Dude, what the hell are you going to do about it? You've never cared about any of the girls." Troy wasn't surprised when Chad brought up his history of girls he'd never given a damn about, the string of faceless, nameless girls who were all too willing to be with him, despite the reputation that clouded him. The girls, Troy thought with disdain, that knew what he wanted but made a scene when he finished it.
"Thanks dude, you made me sound like a player then," Chad smirked slightly at his words.
"Troy, you're worse than a player. You take what you want and then wait and watch for the girl to catch on that she isn't important anymore, somehow finding it amusing that it takes them so long to catch on." Chad watched Troy carefully as he spoke, not expecting his best friend to grow a conscience and feel guilty about the way he treated the girls that threw themselves at him but hoping that Gabriella Montez meant more to him than the others.
"So? I tell them I don't want a relationship outside of what we do and if they don't take me seriously, it's their fault." Troy had never felt really guilty about the way he treated the girls. He always warned them, he always told them that no matter what they thought there was nothing more to what they were doing than the physical. He always found it amusing when he saw something flash through their eyes at his words, the flash that told him they were determined to make him care. The flash that meant they were determined to melt the ice.
Chad waited for a moment, trying to think about how to word his next question. "She didn't throw herself at you, did she? That's why she's different. She didn't want to make you care about her." He assumed he'd guessed right when a muscle in Troy's jaw ticked.
Troy looked up from where he'd been gazing at the floor and met Chad's calm eyes. He couldn't lie. He could omit things with Christy, leave whole things out when talking to his dad but when it came to the Chad, his best friend who had been there for him through out everything, he couldn't lie; he could omit things or leave chunks out. Troy owed Chad too much to not tell him what was happening.
Sighing, a rare sign of contemplation, Troy moved his shoulders lazily. "No. She didn't throw herself at me or offer to meet me at the back of the gym. She was just more afraid of Smith, Lions and Hall than she was of me." And that, Chad thought, was a rare thing.
To be less afraid of him than a bunch of burly footballers was something that Troy would have grasped onto. There was something about Troy that made people instantly feel a quick slice of fear when they first met him and for Gabriella Montez to be less afraid of him than the goon squad, meant something that Chad had never been quite able to grasp.
"What'd Christy say?" If Troy was surprised at the question, he didn't show it. Troy knew that Chad and Christy didn't get along, something he'd encouraged sometimes purely because of the amusement he felt when they argued.
"Not to screw her over. To tell her everything." Chad's lips flicked downwards at Troy's words and he wondered why Christy was telling him to tell Gabriella everything. While Chad didn't like the blonde cheerleading captain much, he had to admit, she gave some good insight when she took it upon herself to talk to the girls that Troy had shown some interest in. Something about Gabriella must have shaken her for her to tell Troy not to screw her over.
"Would you?" It was, Troy thought suddenly, the million dollar question. If he allowed the feelings he had for her take their course, if he allowed himself to see what was beyond the physical relationships he'd had in the past, would he be able to tell her what happened? Would he be able to tell her what only a few people knew?
He shrugged. "I don't know." Chad paused for a moment. He'd been expecting a definitive answer. When it came to something like that for Troy, there was no gray area. It was black or it was white.
"You don't know?" Chad asked in disbelief and Troy turned his eyes to the hoop, rocking forward onto his toes slightly before rocking back.
He wondered if he could tell Chad what he'd only discovered the night before, when he'd been working himself into a frenzy in his backyard in the middle of the night. He wondered if it was worth mentioning and then realizing that it would come out anyway.
"She gets this look in her eyes sometimes when she's looking at me," Chad glanced up, startled at Troy's soft voice. "It's like I could be her entire world if I just slip my hand into hers, like I could make all her problems go away if I just showed that I cared." Troy stopped for a moment and Chad felt something inside him rise as he found himself looking at the Troy Bolton he'd known since he was five.
This Troy Bolton wasn't icy or amused. He didn't cut through people with a pointed comment or watch them fall for his own amusement. He didn't push people away using the ice he'd become legendary for or pull the strings and then watched the reaction. This Troy Bolton was the one that played x-box and ate junk food until the middle of the night. This Troy Bolton felt and showed more than ice and amusement. This Troy Bolton was the person he'd become friends with. The warm, slightly sarcastic person who could include anyone. This Troy Bolton only ever appeared when it all slipped because he was thinking about something more important to him than his ice.
"And?" Chad prompted Troy, hoping that this Troy was going to stay a little bit longer, hoping that this Troy was going to tell him what the look meant to him.
"It reminds me of Allie. The look reminds me of Allie." Troy's eyes widened at his admission and before Chad could speak, before he could attempt to convince the ice to stay at bay, Troy's eyes went blank and Chad knew that Troy was bringing the ice back. It was returning and the lethal cold was going to be aimed at him.
"Troy, man, its okay if it does." Troy controlled himself from shaking, controlled the arctic fury bubbling that wanted a release. Controlled both only because Chad was his best friend.
"Don't you think you should get to class, Chad?" His tone was lethal. For a moment, Chad wondered if he should stay, let Troy take the anger out on him and then realized that Troy would control himself because of what Chad meant to him. Chad felt a brief flash of sympathy for whoever provoked Troy after him and then knew, simply by the way Troy lifted his hand from his pocket, that he only had a few seconds before Troy lost control.
"You're right. See you later." Troy flexed his hand as Chad dropped the ball, his voice shaded by only the faintest hint of nerves. Ice was running through him, surging as it waited for someone to provoke him.
Turning, Troy didn't even start when he came face to face with his father, who was watching him with sympathetic eyes. The ice flared, seeing its target and wanting nothing more than to take a hold of it.
Jack Bolton watched Troy, knowing that he was furious for letting the ice slip, for letting something get to him. For letting someone see something other than icy amusement, even if it was his best friend.
Troy waited, wondering only just what his father was going to say to him. Wondering why his father was looking at him as though he knew something he didn't. Troy clenched his hand into a fist, waiting for his to speak.
"I know it's soon, son." The words jolted him, the kindness in Jack's tone cutting straight through the solid ice. It was enough; Troy thought savagely, enough that he'd slipped with Chad but he didn't want his father's words or kindness, that was too much.
"I have to get to class." Jack nodded, knowing that he wasn't going to see his son for the rest of the week even before Troy's eyes had flared with a surprising heat before resettling into a cold pit.
He didn't storm and he didn't hurry. He walked, his eyes a cold pit, ice running through his veins, the only signal to the turmoil brewing within him was the clenched fist that swung at his side.
Troy rounded a corner, fighting with the ice that wanted to attack something. He always found it amusing that the ice inside him wanted to attack something, take a swing at it and watch as the solid edge of it took the person down. Ice was just as deadly as fire, Troy thought, but it didn't flare and then fade the way fire did.
"…listen, Andrew, I really have to get to class." Troy wasn't sure whether he was glad to hear Gabriella's voice or furious. He wasn't sure if the furious possession he'd felt when she'd walked into the classroom would crash over him again or if the ice would see her as a good target.
"Oh come on baby, it's just a ride. Nothing too important." Troy heard the words and snorted, loud enough for Gabriella and Andrew to look towards him.
"It's never just a ride with you, Hanley. It's always about riding you." Troy ignored Gabriella's quick gasp at his crude words. He watched as Andrew assessed him and then chose to give out a blistering reply.
"Sure it is. With legs like hers, I'm hoping she'd give it a good go." The remark was calculated to provoke him, a dangerous calculation on a day when Troy was only icily amused but today, it was a deadly one.
Andrew didn't see the fist; he only felt the blinding pain and heard the crunch of bone as Troy's fist collided with his face. The ice roared in triumph at the contact, reveling in finding a target and taking advantage of the situation.
Troy watched emotionlessly as Andrew dropped to the floor, withering in pain as Gabriella choked back a scream of shock. Troy flexed his hand, before glancing at Gabriella who was white. She met his eyes, reaching up and pushing away strands of hair as her brown eyes began to look worried.
"You idiot. What if you get suspended?" She only whispered it and Troy felt a twist of amusement as he realized she was afraid of him getting caught and not Andrew who had begun whimpering.
"Doesn't matter. He won't say anything." Troy controlled his tone to carelessness, nudging Andrew's leg with his toe.
He waited as Gabriella stared at him, her eyes softening as she took a step away from the locker and towards him. Troy stiffened as she reached up, brushing her fingers over his face before cradling his cheek in the palm of her hand.
"What's wrong?" Her voice was soft, concern highlighting an ability to see something that Andrew hadn't. Her hand was gentle and it felt so good against his cheek.
Because he wanted to lean into the hand, because he wanted to tell her what had happened and because what he wanted crashed down on him all at once, he pushed her hand away. He took a step back, running a hand through his hair and ignoring Andrew's hapless plea for help.
"Nothing. I'm leaving for a couple of days." Her eyes widened and hurt flashed through, darkening the brown and because Troy wanted to take those words back, he deliberately stopped fighting the ice.
"What? Why? For how long?" She stumbled over the questions as she shoved the sleeve of his jacket up. Troy shrugged.
"I'm leaving town for a couple of days. Because I can. I'll be back by next week." Cold enough to stop her questioning, Troy thought as he watched her blink. Cold enough to let her know he wasn't going to discuss anything else with her.
"Okay," she glanced down for a moment then back up at him. "Will I see you when I get back?" She asked curiously and Troy shrugged.
"Yeah. Keep the jacket." She looked like she wanted to say something else before she could; Troy stepped over Andrew and headed for the door. But he wasn't quick enough. Even with his back turned and few feet away from her, he heard it.
"I'll miss you."
His stomach twisted at the softness of her voice, the feeling in it that he refused to identify. Before he could think about what he was feeling the ice froze over it and the cold consumed anything else that rose at her words.
A/N: Troy's kind of harried. Kind of. But don't think it means he's going to crack at all! He's not. This is only the beginning of what I'm considering to be the downfall of Troy Bolton. Well, it won't really be a downfall. But that's all I'm saying! I hope you enjoyed and sorry if it seems slightly random but I had to bring that middle part in.