DISCLAIMER: I do not own High School Musical or any related characters.

A/N: So this chapter may be not what you were all expecting. Truthfully, it wasn't what I was expecting to write either. But it came out this way because I felt I needed to move this story along and apparently, to move forward we had to go backward. You'll see what I mean. Oh, and yes they did use protection, though I will say this. As the author, I will decide the consequences of it if they don't use protection. So don't worry, I've got it all covered! Anyway, I really hope you all like this chapter because I can honestly say, I didn't know it was going to turn out like this!

Enjoy!

Dangerous Fascination

CHATPER 18

HANGING

Gabriella hadn't known what to expect when she'd woken up. More than one scenario had flown through her mind, from the most romantic notion she could think of to the most likely. Out of all of them, Troy showering and then leaving to get take-out was the least likely. She'd assumed he'd left.

When she'd woken up to discover she was wrapped around a pillow, she'd assumed he'd simply gone. Gotten up and left when he was sure she'd been fast asleep. It had hurt, but it hadn't hurt as much as if she hadn't been expecting to find him gone. And she had. She didn't know whether it was little faith in him or her own insecurities, but even as she'd been falling asleep with her head resting on his shoulder, cuddling into his side she'd known that he wouldn't be there when she woke up.

She just hadn't expected him to still be in the house when she woke up.

Some part of her had relaxed when she'd woken up and he hadn't been there. She'd thought that maybe she could adjust; get her head around what she had given him. Not unwillingly, though, she'd wanted it to be him. It surprised her slightly how much she had wanted it to be him. Troy had been the only person who she'd ever been able to imagine giving her innocence too.

The only person, Gabriella thought with a jolt, and that meant something.

She wasn't stupid. Gabriella knew what some of the girls in her year had done, how they had so much more experience than she did. She knew, too, that sometimes guys liked that more in a girl than they did anything else. But that hadn't stopped her from forming a crush on someone at her previous schools, nor had it stopped her from imagining what it was like to kiss them. But none of them had made her imagine, made her want, what Troy made her want, what he made her imagine.

None of them had made her feel what Troy made her feel.

Curling her legs up to her chest, Gabriella shifted slightly on the lounge she'd stretched out on. She'd chosen to be in the living room when he arrived back. It allowed her to be still, muscles she didn't know existed where sore, and it allowed her to know when he arrived back, which, she knew, wouldn't be too much longer.

Briefly, Gabriella wondered what he'd bring back to eat and then felt a swoop of apprehension as she realized that they had to talk.

Closing her eyes, Gabriella wondered what the talk would consist of. She couldn't imagine Troy avoiding what he wanted to talk about but she could just see him leaving things out. Omitting things he didn't think were important to say. He would do that, Gabriella thought, because he didn't want her to know everything. Because he didn't want her too close to him. She wondered if she was too close already. That maybe the talk would be short and quick, like ripping off a band-aid. Maybe he would tell her that there was going to be nothing after this. That what was happening between them was simply a one time thing.

The quick stab of pain made Gabriella gasp. Quickly, her eyes flew open and she sat up. She didn't want Troy to tell her it was a one time occurrence. She didn't want him to think so little of whatever was between them. He meant too much.

Feeling tears threaten, Gabriella tried to hold them back. What would she do if he decided that this had run its course? That she wasn't worth it because she wasn't experience enough or that she was too shy? That she was too much of a good girl for the bad boy?

The tears that had threatened began to fall at the thought of Troy rejecting her because she wasn't suited to the image that East High had created for him. Though a large part of her knew that he wasn't that shallow, that he would never end whatever this was because she was a good girl, Gabriella couldn't help but listen to the insecurities. She couldn't help but cry at the thought of seeing him give her one of those blank looks again. One of those looks that told people he thought nothing of them. That they weren't even worth his ice.

That would hurt most of all. To be nothing to him and Gabriella could only hope as she tried to wipe away the tears even as more fell, would be the worst kind of torture.

Letting out a quiet sob at the thought, Gabriella didn't hear the knock on the door. Instead, she pushed her face into her hands and tried to stem the tears. It was then, with her face in her hands, that she heard the second knock and thought it was strange that Troy had decided to knock. She'd thought he would simply walk in.

Rubbing her cheeks, though she knew she looked like she'd been crying, Gabriella ignored her groaning muscles as she got up and headed to the door as the person knocked for a third time.

Gabriella pushed her hair behind her ear as she opened the door, her eyes widening when she saw Taylor standing on the doorstep looking slightly irritated before the other girl leaned back on her heels to study her friend.

For a moment there was only silence. Gabriella was aware that she looked like she'd been crying and knew that Taylor was going to take it the wrong way. Before she could speak and deny what Taylor was thinking, Taylor spoke.

"I told you so." Gabriella blinked at the victorious words. "I freaking told you so. What did he do?" Taylor looked so smug that, for a moment, Gabriella was stunned. Shouldn't Taylor be more worried about her than the fact that she was right? Shouldn't she be worried about the fact that she was right instead of smug and triumphant about it?

"He didn't do anything." Gabriella spoke coolly, briefly wondering how she was going to explain the fact that she looked like she'd been crying when Taylor snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, right. You look like you've been crying Gabriella. Don't deny it. If you tell me what he did, I'll track him down and kick his ass." Taylor brushed her friend, and Gabriella's words, aside as she sailed into the house, the concern for her friend coming a bit too late as Gabriella shut the door around to stare at her.

She wasn't even that concerned, Gabriella realized as she followed Taylor into the kitchen. Because Taylor had been her before, Gabriella didn't bother to direct her to anything as she stood in the doorway of the kitchen and stared at her friend, incredulous.

"He didn't do anything." Gabriella repeated as Taylor dug through a drawer for a spoon, the tub of yoghurt she'd gotten from the fridge sitting in front of her. Taylor only paused mid dig before she studied her friend as she resumed digging.

"I don't believe you. Of all the things that have happened too you since you came to Albuquerque, Troy Bolton had been at the root of all your problems." Or problem, Gabriella thought as Taylor found a spoon and leaned back against the sink to eat the yoghurt and watch her friend. Taylor viewed Troy as a problem, Gabriella thought, she thought that her feelings for Troy weren't as strong as Gabriella knew they were. Her mind flashed to the stab of pain she'd felt when she'd been thinking about what he'd say to her. She felt too much for him for her feelings to be indispensable because Taylor thought they were.

"Taylor, Troy hasn't done anything to me. That's three times I've said that and I won't say it again. What are you doing here?" This time the cold tone she'd used apparently got through to her friend and Gabriella had the satisfaction of watching uncertainty flash through Taylor's eyes as she set down the yoghurt.

"I came because I wanted to apologize for this afternoon. But, apparently, you don't want to see me." Taylor's voice was as cold as hers had been and Gabriella found herself taking a note from Troy's book and infusing her own chill with amusement.

"I never said that. Besides, you don't want to apologize for this afternoon. You still want me to have nothing to do with Troy and everything to do with Doug. That's not going to change. So why don't you tell me why you're really here?" Because what Gabriella was saying was too close to the bone and the cold amusement Taylor could only assume she'd learnt from Troy, was so much more effective than she'd ever thought it would be, she threw out the tub of yoghurt and folded her arms.

"I really did come to apologize, but seeing as you won't believe that, I'll begin with the other reason." Gabriella simply raised an eyebrow at her and Taylor found she'd never been made to feel more small and petulant than she was now. "Do you know why Troy ran away?" The spite in Taylor's voice had Gabriella drawing in a quick breath. So did the fact that she didn't know why Troy had gone, which meant it was another thing Taylor had gloat about.

Gabriella opened her mouth. "I –" Gabriella felt the presence behind her and snapped her mouth shut as she felt the wave of fury as well.

"She doesn't McKessie, nor do I think that it's your place to tell her." Troy's voice wasn't coldly amused the way Gabriella's was and it didn't make Taylor feel small and petulant. His voice was steely ice and as cold as the Antarctic. It made her feel afraid.

"What are you doing here?" Taylor scrambled to regain her poise as she spat out the words. Troy didn't reply as Gabriella turned slightly to him, she saw the ice she'd seen when he'd hit Andrew and feared it. Without thinking, she placed a gentle hand on his arm, hoping that maybe it would calm him. The way it had calmed him when Doug had tried to ask her out.

"I'm here with dinner. You know that thing people are eating right about now. It's become a tradition in many cultures to eat an evening meal." Troy's voice was dripping with sarcasm as he held up the plastic bag he was holding. Gabriella felt her stomach grumble at the smells wafting from the bag and pushed it away, it wasn't a good time to think about her stomach.

"Don't try sarcasm with me Bolton. It doesn't work." Gabriella turned her head away at the tone of Taylor's voice, looking up at Troy and wishing he would glance down at her, so she could silently plead with him to not tear Taylor to shreds.

"I'll use whatever I please, McKessie. Just as I'll tell Gabriella why I left when I please. Good night." It was a curt dismissal given in a tone that warned Taylor to not argue. Gabriella wondered if her friend would hear the tone instead of the words. She hoped she would.

Swallowing hard, Gabriella managed to tear her eyes away from Troy, from the face that was watching Taylor fight to not give into the tone. Her eyes found Taylor and Gabriella shrugged when the look Taylor gave her was to say something. To say anything. She couldn't because she knew Troy was right. It was his prerogative to tell her why he left and Taylor had no right to interfere with that.

"Fine. Bye Gabriella. I suppose I'll see you wherever Troy is." Gabriella drew in a sharp breath at the menace in Taylor's voice and closed her eyes as Taylor stormed past her and Troy. She jolted slightly when the slamming of the door cracked through the silence like a whip before reopening her eyes.

Before she could speak, Troy pulled his arm away from her and placed the plastic bag on the bench.

"I got you noodles in black bean sauce." His voice was tense and Gabriella felt the insecurities prickle at his cold voice. Wasn't this what she was afraid of? Drawing in a deep breath, Gabriella stepped forward.

"Troy, I didn't know she was coming." He glanced back at her and Gabriella bit her lip at the ice in his eyes. He snorted and she felt shock tingle through her.

"Yeah, right. McKessie would never have come over unannounced. It's not in her character." Because Troy had known Taylor longer than she had, Gabriella felt a twinge of fear as he pulled out several cartons.

"I didn't though. Don't you think that if I had I would have tried to get her out of her as soon as possible?" Gabriella asked, pushing away the fear as Troy turned to her, his face hard and his eyes cool.

"I wouldn't know. I've been away. How am I meant to know she hasn't convinced you to have nothing to do with me and everything to do with Doug?" Gabriella's mouth dropped open at the violence in her ear and then she felt her own temper begin to boil.

There was silence for a moment as Gabriella tried to convince herself that getting mad was a bad idea, that it would just make him colder than before. But her emotions, already vulnerable because of her tears and the tension that had sprung up between Troy and Taylor, refused to coincide with her brain.

"How dare you say that?" Troy raised an eyebrow at the fury in her tone, and Gabriella only briefly wondered if he was surprised before she kept going. "How dare you insinuate that I'm using you when it seems you're the one using me?" Gabriella knew that it had been the wrong thing to say the moment she'd said it and her mouth snapped shut as Troy's face grew dark.

"I'm using you? Me? I haven't been able to concentrate on anyone for months and I'm the one using you?" Gabriella felt a flicker of pleasure at his words and squashed it with anger as she realized she wanted to meet him blow for blow.

"Using is probably not the right word, but it does explain everything. You leave me hanging. Every time you kiss me, you pull away and leave me hanging there. What the hell is that? You leave and suddenly, after everything that happened the day before you left, I'm left hanging. I'm left wondering what the hell was going on." Gabriella took a step closer to him as she spoke, unaware that her voice was getting louder as she looked up at him furiously.

"Sure. You're the one left hanging and I'm the one left furious. Do you know what you've done to me?" Troy spat at her and Gabriella didn't blink as his own voice rose. "You've made me feel. Do you have any idea how much that pisses me off? I. Don't. Feel. Ever." Troy ground out the words as Gabriella looked up at him, hurt by his words and angry that he would say them.

"So I piss you off?" She shoved at his chest as she yelled, Troy didn't budge. "You don't give a damn do you? You don't give a damn that maybe what you make me feel pissed me off as well. Who cares about what you make someone else feel, who cares that maybe they're terrified of what they're feeling because you don't have any of your own." Gabriella shouted and Troy's eyes went black at her words.

"Did you hear what I just said?" Gabriella had never thought Troy could shout but the explosion rocked her to her core. "You make me feel. It pisses me off. I've gone six fucking years without feeling a thing. I've gone six long years making sure no-one could turn them on and then you give me that fucking look and it all comes back!" He grabbed her wrists as he shouted, managed to stop himself from shaking her as Gabriella stared up at him, fear and fury intertwining in her system.

"What look? I have no idea what you're talking about." She was lost and felt his grip tighten as she tossed out the words, her tone insulting as he drew her up close to his face. Arousal sprang up at the look in his eyes. The look of his control slipping, Gabriella thought as she braced her hands on his chest.

"How could you not know? How could you honestly not know? Even you're not that stupid." She flared at his words, hating the fact that he'd called her stupid when she prided herself on her intelligence.

"You're calling me stupid? I'm not the idiot who threw his emotions away and is pissed because they're coming back." The words cut to the bone even as he realized how beautiful she looked furious. Anger guided his actions and Troy kissed her.

Fury still coursed through her as his mouth plundered her own. Gabriella fought, pushing at his chest, the argument wasn't over and he wasn't going to get away with this. Even as she thought it, her hands began to pull at his shirt in desperation.

His tongue fought hers, as he yanked at the zipper of the jumper she was wearing. The flashing fury changed to a dizzying need so swiftly, Gabriella couldn't fight it. But that didn't mean the force of what had been started dissipated. Instead it increased.

She moaned as he cupped her breast, as he teased her nipple into a tight point. As his mouth left hers to suck harshly at her neck. Her hands slid down, beneath his shirt scraping the muscles of his abdomen as she pushed it up.

He pulled away and tore the shirt off; Gabriella felt a flash of pleasure at the toned body and then groaned as he lifted her, his mouth finding a nipple and his hands yanking at the pajama shorts she'd pulled on after her shower. A leg hooked around his hips, the soreness in her thighs forgotten as his fingers found her ready and wet.

Gabriella felt the familiar drive even as a hand slid down to undo the clasp of his jeans. Tearing her mouth from his, Gabriella tumbled over the edge with a cry, her muscles contracting violently as he dug his teeth into her collarbone. The pleasure and pain made her want more. Made her need more.

She didn't feel the coolness of the kitchen bench as she struggled to push his jeans down, she didn't notice the way his eyes watched her. But she heard his gasp as she wrapped her hand around him, too far gone with need to remember to be shy or embarrassed this second time. She felt her body throb as he jerked when she moved her hand slowly.

Then felt herself thrown back into the whirlwind as he drove her up again, her hand abandoning him to grip the edge of the bench. She wanted him inside her. She wanted him inside her now.

"Inside. Troy." She barely gasped out the words as the need screamed and then she cried out as the force of his own anger drove him deep into her.

She was so aware of him. He was hot and hard inside her and her body was pulsing as he withdrew and drove in again. And again. Gabriella stopped thinking as he pushed her on a ride that she knew would leave her bruised.

She could feel the pleasure mounting, feel the painful tug deep in her stomach that warned her and then he slammed into her.

The pleasure burst and Gabriella cried out in shock, her body thrashing as she clenched around him viciously. She felt him swear as her body shuddered and then felt him go still as he let go as well.

The silence was deafening as Gabriella fought for breath. She suddenly realized her nails were digging deep into Troy's back, that they were still connected. The anger was still there, but the force behind it had dissipated.

Instead, the force had been replaced by shock.

She was in love with him. In love. That emotion she'd been so careful not to name had reared with her anger and Gabriella couldn't avoid it. Not now. Not when they were so raw, their anger breaking his control and pulling her love into the foreground.

"Troy…" She murmured, releasing his shoulders so she could pull back a little bit. So she could see his face.

He didn't reply. Instead, he pulled away, his eyes avoiding her. Gabriella felt something sting at his withdrawal and she pulled the jacket Troy had never torn off her back around her. She watched as Troy pulled on his shirt, still not looking at her. Gabriella closed her eyes slightly as she realized what he was doing.

"Troy. Don't leave." She whispered softly as he headed out of the kitchen. He stopped and glanced back at her and for a moment, just a moment, Gabriella thought he was going to say something. She thought maybe he was going to say something important; there was something about his eyes that told her he wanted to say something to her. For that one split second, Gabriella felt something rise inside her, a hope that he was going to say something. Then he turned and walked away.

Leaving her hanging once again.

A/N:...yes. And that's how it ends. Understand the moving forwards by moving backwards? Anyway, this chapter turned out differently, I originally planned for them to begin an awkward relationship but it didn't happen. So this is how it ended. As for the angry sex, um, I really don't know what to say about it except that it seemed to fit. I think. I hope you guys all liked it! (I really do, it feels darker than the other chapters and that worries me slightly!)