PREVIOUSLY…

Gabriella didn't feel herself being pulled, as the person who had her arm just held her in place with a gentle hold as she looked up at the person who kept her in place and sighed in relief.

"You are one hard girl to get a hold of tonight."

Gabriella saw the blonde hair, the tan skin, the light baby blue eyes that were shades lighter than Troy's, the small curling of the lips that showed how uncertain he was, but mostly she just saw her best friend.

Gabriella felt him let go of her arm as he gave her a nervous smile that showed a little of his white teeth.

"…Hey." Gabriella heard her own voice in the air as Jake and her were pressed tightly together near the front door as it seemed like the music that was just playing died down, the people around them didn't matter, the smell of alcohol was wiped away.

Jake shuffled his feet and Gabriella felt relieved that he was as nervous as she was. Her stomach felt like it was spinning at a million miles an hour, her hands were clammy, and her legs felt like they wanted to give out as it was all processing in her head that JAKE, her best friend was talking to her again!

"Um…" He reached his hand up and scratched the back of his neck, something that Gabriella picked up on that all guys like to do when they're nervous. "Can we um, go outside maybe?"

Gabriella looked behind her and for the first time in a minute noticed that the music was still playing loudly, there were kids grinding on each other, practically dry humping each other, and more people were drinking a brown murky liquid in clear plastic cups.

She looked back at Jake who still had that half smile on his face, "You know, so we can hear each other." Jake added as Gabriella didn't need to be asked twice and nodded her head.

"Yeah." She agreed verbally in a distant tone still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that her best friend was talking to her again! She didn't care if he wanted to talk to her about dogs or even socks, she was glad that he was just talking to her!

He turned his back to her and opened the door as he stood off to the side a little so she could walk through first.

Gabriella felt her legs start moving and took a deep breath once she realized how cold it really was outside compared to inside where things were getting hot. She looked out further as she walked over to the porch railing and put her hands on it as she looked out into the dark blue almost black sky with the stars shining. There were cars parked up and down the street as she was sure that there was some around the corners too.

"Happy early birthday." Jake's voice brings Gabriella back into their world instead of thinking about other people's cars and she hears his footsteps getting closer and eventually feels his body stand next to hers.

"Thanks." Gabriella's voice was a lot quieter than what she expected as she turned her head slightly to see Jake gripping the railing same as her and just taking in everything.

Gabriella had a soft smile on her face as she kept staring at Jake to see if anything was different about him. Although they had only fought for a week or two, and not months, things could've changed and she wanted to be aware if anything did.

He looked normal besides the fact he had a little stubble on his chin giving him an even broodier look that he could pull off. His eyes were a little narrower than what she remembered but then again, it could be just him soaking in what he was about to say and what happened the last couple of days?

"So I was in my room yesterday and I realized something." Gabriella felt her forehead crease in curiosity as Jake used a declaring tone.

"Yeah?" Gabriella provoked him for more as he took in a deep breath and ran his hand through his short thick blonde hair.

"Yeah…" Jake turned a little to look at Gabriella. There was a pause as Gabriella wondered if that was it? Did he already say it and she missed it? She was ready to say something until he started speaking again, "I was wrong."

Gabriella did a double take on him as she opened her mouth to say something, but shut it quickly as she didn't know what to say. Was he taking the blame for fighting? But that wasn't like Jake, but then again she meant more to him than anybody else since they were best friends, well…besides Haley who was his girlfriend.

But this wasn't right. Them fighting all started with Gabriella making a bad decision and she knew that. If she let him take the blame for this then it's like she wasn't admitting to her being wrong and that was wrong itself. It wasn't fair that Jake was doing this. She had to say something.

"Jake, no you weren't." Gabriella's voice came out soft as she put her one hand tentatively on his forearm to keep him from turning away from her. He went to protest, Gabriella didn't even have to wait for him to open his mouth, she somehow knew that he was as she beat him to it. "Listen." She commanded softly as you could hear the music from inside blaring out into the cool air.

"No you listen." Jake said back before Gabriella could continue and she instantly was quiet as Jake's eyes seemed to be piercing through her, but not in anger, in a way that told her what he had to say was worth waiting.

"I just…" Jake blew out air as he turned away from her as if collecting his thoughts. "This is a lot harder than what I thought it would be." He admitted and Gabriella felt another soft smile come onto her face. Gabriella felt safer knowing he was feeling just like she was, and she wasn't imagining the weirdness between them, but all that would disappear soon once they talked about everything.

"You're doing good." Gabriella encouraged as he turned his head and gave her a smile acknowledging the fact that she said something before turning back to look straight ahead of him.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is…I've known you for two and a half years." Gabriella nodded confirming this fact. "And all this time I've come to care about strong, independent Gabriella Montez who dances, who's smart, who's good at everything she does."

Gabriella squinted her eyes questionable at Jake. Did he really think that much of her? "Jake, I'm not--"

"But you are." Jake exclaimed with a smile of excitement that made Gabriella really believe him. "--were." He corrected himself as Gabriella swallowed the lump that was collecting in the bottom of her throat. What did he mean by 'were'? "And I think…we're both just growing up."

Jake sighed as his eyes bored into hers and she looked down at the ground not wanting to meet his gaze. What did he mean by this? She was always so good at reading him until lately and now she had no clue at where he was going with this.

"And in the middle of this all, I forgot that." Jake admitted as Gabriella snapped her eyes up almost as if she was in curiosity. Jake gave her a weak smile as he probably had no idea how Gabriella was gonna react to this since she had no idea herself. Of course she wasn't going to get mad, but she was just trying to decipher what Jake was saying.

"So when you started dating Troy I think that just brought to my attention that…we're barely kids anymore. Hell I'm 18, I'm counted as an adult and here you are…you're still independent, but you're letting someone else in, you're not dancing that much anymore so now you can explore other things, and you're moving on."

"I'm not--"

"Yes you are, and I was just being my idiot self thinking that it was wrong." Jake admitted as he ran his hand through his hair in frustration and walked swiftly back and forth as if debating with himself if he should continue.

"Jake, it's okay." Gabriella reassured him as he all of a sudden stopped and she walked up to him and placed her hands on his shoulders in a best friend kind of way.

"No, it's really not. I was stupid and I couldn't see that so I let my anger get the better of me and all you were doing was being there for Troy. We're both growing up and we both have people we care about in our lives, and I know that I will be there for Haley if she was feeling what Troy was feeling so it wasn't fair for me to get mad at you."

Gabriella shook her head, "I shouldn't of been so careless though. I should've taken into consideration about the English test, I should've thought about it more rationally, I should've--"

"You should've been angry at your best friend for not giving you a chance to explain the situation." Jake added as Gabriella stopped her ranting and he cut in. "I understand what you did for Troy. I think everyone that was at school Friday knew they were talking about him, and I know what that feels like, letting the school down and ruining their spirits."

Gabriella sighed, "But I want you to know that I'm gonna try harder. I'm not gonna blow off things anymore, especially school work, and I'm gonna balance out my schedule more. I promise." Gabriella declared as she swore she saw Jake's eyes light up.

Gabriella smiled brightly at him as he grinned down at her and engulfed her in a friendly hug. They were back, they were for sure best friends and now no one could question if they were fighting or not.

Gabriella knew Jake brought up good points though. They were growing up and part of growing up was discovering new things and to her, Troy was a new thing. He was a new relationship, new friendship, new romance, and new love.

Gabriella grinned even more as they pulled back. She loves Troy. She had been thinking about it for the past couple of weeks, and she knew she had been feeling something different, something she had never felt before, but she now knew. Troy was that new thing in her life and she was in the middle of not being able to think about what her life would be like without him. She was in love with him.

"Wow, I knew that you missed me, but not that much." Jake joked as Gabriella was like in a trance as she just kept smiling wildly. She was in love with Troy. She needed him in her life.

She needed his cocky self, his toothy grin, his laid back personality, his scent that she still wasn't able to name, but she would know the smell anywhere. She needed him, and she was now 100 percent sure. There were no doubts, she loves him.

"I love him." Gabriella hears her voice as Jake does a double take on her dazed face and Gabriella smiles just hearing her voice say that out loud. "I love him." She says a bit louder.

"You love?…" Jake now puts his hands on her two shoulders as he bends his knees so he's eye level with Gabriella. "…Troy?" Jake asks as his eyes go wide with amazement. He sure wasn't expecting this confession from her that night.

"I love him." Gabriella smiles even wider if that's even possible. "It all makes sense now. The feeling in the pit of my stomach…wow that sounded really cliché." Gabriella says with amazement still clearly written all over her face.

Gabriella sees Jake nodding slowly as if trying to take this all in. "Well then…" He draws out as he is still bending his knees to be at her level and is holding her in place. "Go tell him."

"What?!" Gabriella exclaimed with a little more attitude than what she wanted. "Hell no!" Her voice drops as Jake looks at her like she's crazy.

"Why not?" He asks her in his normal tone.

"Shhh!" Gabriella hissed as Jake rolls his eyes but nevertheless lowers his voice.

"Why not?"

"Because what if he doesn't say it back, then it will just be awkward and weird, and then we might break up." Gabriella said quickly in a hushed whisper.

Jake shrugged, "You'll never know until you try."

"I hate when you're right." Gabriella said just as the front door opened and a giggling Taylor came out.

Jake stood fully up as he took his hands back from Gabriella and they both gave Taylor an amused look as she stumbled through the door still holding her 'Montez' drink.

"There you are Gabs!" She yells even though she doesn't have to. "Troy has been looking for you everywhere! I found her!" She yells to the closed door and Gabriella and Jake hold back their laughs. "He said that it's very important and he's upstairs." Taylor reported.

Gabriella nodded, "Thanks Tay…" She turned back towards Jake. "So, we're um…good?" Gabriella asked as her nerves got to her all of a sudden. She had just made up with Jake and realized she loves Troy and now she had to go see Troy? Thank God she wasn't drunk so she wouldn't let it slip.

"More than good." Jake gave her a half hug as he started leading her to the front door that Taylor just went through again. "And remember, you'll never know until you try." He whispered in her ear before he pushed her through the crowd and left before she could retaliate.

Troy's heart was pounding. His head was swarming even though he only had one beer. He wanted to remember this night, even if that meant Gabriella didn't say it back or it totally backfired. He wanted to remember it so that just in case he had some sort of luck on his side, Gabriella said it back. He was finally going to tell her how he felt and he would've done it sooner that night but it seemed as if she disappeared thirty minutes before this.

He paced the room as he ran a hand through his hair and flipped his hair out of his eyes. He self consciously felt his front pocket to make sure the box was in there still.

He walked over to his messy desk and saw a picture of them just laying in his truck. He smiled and saw how perfectly Gabriella fit in his arms. How perfectly her body molded to his. How perfect that smile was on her face as she nuzzled her face into his chest. She was perfect and tonight he was going to tell her that.

His heart sped up even faster if that was even possible. He had to ask a very drunk Chad and Taylor to look for her so he could head upstairs to get her gift after waiting for about twenty minutes. He hadn't seen her since she walked over to find Jake, he was hoping things were going okay with them now, after all, Jake did show up.

He heard footsteps as he knew that he made it very clear to people that the upstairs was off limits. That was the only way his parents agreed to go out that night, if no one went upstairs to any of the guest bedrooms or their bedroom because they did not want a 'sex' house. His mom told him that would give them a very bad name on the street as he just rolled his eyes.

The doorknob turned and he whipped his head around as he put down the picture and waited anxiously for Gabriella to appear. It had to be her, the only other people up here were those who were waiting for the bathroom.

He felt his breath hitch in his throat as Gabriella appeared and quietly slipped into the room with a smile on her face before turning and shutting the door. If he didn't know any better then he would have to say that she looked almost as if she was happier than him. Which was a good sign, right?

"Hey Wildcat." He heard her soft voice over the muffled music from downstairs as she walked into the room more, but kept her distance as she fiddled with her hands almost nervously.

"Hey." He greeted back and even though he had seen her previously that night, this was different. He was ready to tell her, and he was risking their relationship for it because what if she didn't feel the same way? Then it would be weird and awkward and things wouldn't be the same.

He took a couple of steps forward and Gabriella must've heard him because she looked up and her eyes were twinkling even more than normal as her smile seemed to dim down and you could just read the nervousness on her face. What was wrong?

"Everything okay?" Troy asked uneasily as he tried to push what he was dying to tell her to the back of him mind so the caring side of him could come out.

Gabriella nodded, "Yeah, I should be asking you that. You're the one that sent Tay after me." Gabriella joked as Troy rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around her.

It took Gabriella a second to relax in his arms as she moved her head into his chest more and breathed in his scent. Troy didn't know how he got so lucky, but there was something about Gabriella that just made him want to be better.

"I'm fine. Great even." Troy said and mentally rolled his eyes at how stupid that sounded. He was just scared to know the answer of what Gabriella really felt for him. He had never felt this vulnerable before. "I just--" Troy sighed in contemplating on whether or not to do this here again. "How did things work out with Jake?" Troy changed the subject and if Chad found out then he would never let Troy forget that he chickened out.

He felt Gabriella smile against his clad covered chest. "Good. Great even. We both made mistakes and we're good." Gabriella explained.

"That's great." Troy whispered as his left hand was wrapped securely around Gabriella's lower back, keeping her close, and his right hand was playing with one of her curls. There was nothing stopping him now. Gabriella was in a good mood, it was her birthday, and he loves her. There was nothing more to it.

"Yeah, now what's up with you?" Gabriella asked as she pulled her head back a little, but let Troy keep his hands on her.

"Happy Birthday." Troy said as he pulled his right hand back and made a move to get the black velvet box out of his pocket and held it up to Gabriella. Gabriella's mouth dropped open and soon a smile showed on her face. "Now before you say that it's too much, don't worry about it because you're worth it." Troy said as he handed her the box and she hesitantly opened it as she gave him a weary glance. Troy knew she was probably expecting to see a ring which he decided to stay away from since he knew nothing about that, and from the look on Gabriella's face she looked to be hundreds of times happier that it wasn't either.

Gabriella was silent as she hesitantly brought up her hand that wasn't holding the box and touched the gold locket that was sitting in the box that was attached to a chain. Her chocolate eyes looked up and Troy blinked in surprise that her eyes were actually glossy. Was she crying and more importantly, why?

"Wildcat it's…thank you." She said softly as Troy felt a proud smile take over his face. Now all she had to do was open it and the last of his nerves could finally go away.

"It opens." Troy instructed as he felt his arms grip onto Gabriella a little tighter to lead her over to his bed. "Come on." They both sat down as he turned his body a little to be facing Gabriella more. He saw Gabriella eyeing it closely, "Go ahead, open it." Troy said a little to eager as he was almost surprised that Gabriella didn't question him on his tone.

He saw Gabriella's small delicate fingers pry at the lock as almost afraid that she would break it, or she was scared to see what was inside of it and he suddenly felt his throat close up on him as he sucked in a breath and saw the three words on the inside and heard Gabriella take her own sharp breath.

Was that a good sign? He couldn't see her face as she was looking down and her curls were covering the side of her face. He reached out his hand and slowly moved the curls behind her ear to at least see the side of her face. He knew Gabriella wasn't one for cheesy things, and he normally wasn't either unless he was being his cocky self sometimes, but he found this time to be an exception.

He saw a tear fall down onto Gabriella's wrist as she finally looked up and blinked back more. She closed the locket and Troy didn't know if that was a good sign or not. He knew most girls would kill to have him feel this way about them, but Gabriella was different. She wasn't most girls.

"I love you too." Her voice was small as she turned her head and her amazed, but yet glossy eyes looked into his. He felt his breath hitch in his throat again as a smile took over Gabriella's face and she used the back of her hand to wipe her eyes.

His heart was pounding again as he felt his face break out into a smile and he literally pounced onto Gabriella making her fall back against his pillows he had on his bed. Troy put one hand on her lower side, and the other ran down her cheek as his lips brushed over hers.

"You're not just saying that are you, because I'd understand." Troy found himself saying even though he would pretty much be crushed.

"I do. I really do Wildcat." Gabriella breathed against his skin and her own hand ran briefly down his cheek and the other hand that was holding the jewelry box laid it down on the bed side table.

"I love you Gabriella Montez." Troy said with a smile on his face before Gabriella leaned her head up and connected their lips in a passionate lip lock. He didn't know if those three words could change something so simple as a kiss, but something was definitely different.

When they pulled back they were both panting as he leaned his forehead against hers and they stared into each other's eyes. "This has been the best birthday ever." Gabriella smiled up at Troy as both of her hands wound around his neck.

"And it's not even your birthday yet." Troy gave Gabriella a toothy grin as they brought their mouths together again briefly, rubbing slowly over each other. "I was…" They parted only to have their mouths run more frantically over each other. "So worried…" Troy panted more as Gabriella was breathless beneath him and he found it even more erotic as he captured her lips in a hungry kiss. "That you would…" Gabriella's hands worked their way down Troy's back and up again as she pulled his head closer and connected their lips again. "Freak." Troy finally finished as he dove down again and made himself more comfortable by straddling her at the waist.

His tongue eagerly ran across her mouth before she opened hers and let him in. His tongue dueled with hers as she lifted her pelvis up slightly and rubbed it against his. He tore his mouth away from hers as the need for air became an issue. "Are we…" Gabriella stopped for a moment as Troy trailed hot kisses down her neck and sank his teeth in her sensitive spot knowing she liked it when he was a little rough, and the same went for him. He found it erotic when she would drag her teeth across his skin, harshly suck at his flesh until it was raw, and even scrape her nails into his back. Just thinking about it aroused him even more.

Troy heard the sweet giggle escape Gabriella's lips as he dug himself further into her neck making her flesh red. Gabriella was panting as she ran her hand through his hair, "Should we…uh, be doing this?" Gabriella finally managed to say as Troy gave one last bite down on her sweet skin as he looked up at her.

"We've done this before." Troy pointed out with a mischief smirk on his face.

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Yeah, but…half our class is downstairs."

Troy shrugged as he pressed a kiss right above her cleavage. "So?…I have a lock." Troy wriggled his eye brows twice as Gabriella nodded her head eagerly.

Gabriella sighed as she opened her front door at noon. It was now officially New Years Eve and in two days they would be back in school and Gabriella would have to start her busy dance schedule which she wasn't looking all that forward too, but if this was her last one then why not do it with a bang. The only thing she wasn't looking forward to was telling her mom that she didn't want to dance anymore, but teach dance instead. And even though Gabriella would have to know dance to teach it, she knew enough to teach little kids and that was enough for her.

Gabriella shut the door behind her and looked around the house getting a weird feeling. Everything was too quiet for her liking. Usually her mom would be downstairs watching some chick flick while going over some papers, or she and Eric would be in the kitchen as he tried to teach her how to cook normal meals that didn't come in a box.

"MOM!" Gabriella shouted throughout the house as she dumped her black duffel bag by the door. Gabriella walked in further and to the stair case as she glanced around one more time to make sure she didn't miss any noise coming from their downstairs.

Gabriella shrugged as she saw her mother's car in the garage as she pulled her own car in so that meant that she must've been there. "MOM!" Gabriella called again as she walked up the stairs and made it to the top.

She turned left and saw that her mother's door was open only an inch or two, but it was dark so that must've meant that her blinds were down. She saw a dim light flicker and knew that was the TV under the door crack.

Gabriella walked slower up to her mom's door just incase she was in there with Eric, but heard no noise as she softly knocked on the door. "Mom?" Gabriella questioned as she stayed stationed on the outside of the door and waited for a response.

She waited a couple of seconds before she heard a sob and she immediately opened the door all the way to see tissues scattered around her mother's bed along with her mom who was in the center of her king size bed sitting with her back against the headboard and the TV on mute.

Her mom had red eyes, a blotchy face, her hair was in a messy bun like she slept in it all night, but her tired eyes contradicted that as it looked like she got no sleep at all and just laid there. What could've happened, she was supposed to be with Eric that night at the office before going out to dinner with him because they couldn't spend New Years together since Gabriella and her mom had a tradition where they ordered pizza and watched really low rated movies all night.

Gabriella's heart broke as she saw her mother in this state. Her mother's dark watery eyes looked up and she let out a sniffle as she was trying to control her cries around her daughter. Gabriella didn't understand how wonderful her night was and how much happiness she felt could all of a sudden be wiped away and now all she wanted to do was cry with her mother.

"Mommy?" Gabriella heard her voice squeak as she rushed over to her and threw her arms around the woman in front of her.

Author's Note--So what do you guys think? I personally don't care for it at all, but I had my friend read it and she liked it so she convinced me to post it instead of delete it and start all over. Now the drama really starts and I'm surprised that I'm really excited to write it. So please review and tell me what you think, only a couple of chapters left, maybe nine or ten?