A/N: I liked this chapter better than the last. Enjoy. School back on tomorrow :( lol. Anyway, check it out. I think you'll like it too. Don't own HSM

Chapter 2 – Secrets and Sundaes

Gabriella walked into starbucks the following day and rolled her eyes as Devon and Troy followed. "Now behave, the pair of you. I know my dad forced me to bring you but please behave." She begged, walking over to sit at an empty booth in a corner.

Troy and Devon sat opposite and glanced at each other. Aidan had forced Gabriella to take them since he and Maria were both at work and they wanted Troy to be introduced to her friends. "Listen, if I had a choice, I would give you some privacy and hang out with Big D. And my car needs washing since I drove down here from L.A." He defended.

"Oh, yes, the sports car you had given to you." Gabriella muttered.

"It was a birthday present!" Troy defended.

"From who? Who gives a seventeen year old boy a sports car for their birthday?" Gabriella asked in exasperation.

"My cousin's best friend's father." He replied.

Gabriella frowned. "Your cousin's best friend's father?"

"I dated my cousin's best friend." He replied.

"And you broke up?" Gabriella asked quietly, avoiding his eyes.

He nodded slowly yeah. "It was a clean break up and her dad's rich and he said I could-"

"Hey, Baby." A tall, muscular guy walked up to them. He sat next to Gabriella and kissed her cheek. His blonde hair was gelled into spikes and his green eyes gleamed almost unnaturally. "Who's this?"

"Chris, this is Troy Bolton. Troy, this is Chris, my boyfriend. Chris, I know I said it would be just us two but my dad said that…" Her voice trailed off and she trained her eyes on the table.

"Don't worry. I'm cool with it. And I got to see Devon again, didn't I, Little Man?" Chris grinned at Devon.

Devon shot him a small smile and snuggled further against Troy. "Troy, could you take me to the bathroom, please?" He asked politely.

Troy smiled brightly and nodded, sliding out of the booth. He held his hand out for the little boy and unzipped his black jacket with his other. "Come on, Big D."

Devon followed him out of the booth and grasped his large hand in his tiny one. "Thank you, Troy."

Gabriella smiled softly as she watched them walk away. "I really am sorry, Chris."

He smiled gently, pushing a few curls behind her ear. "Don't worry about it. It's fine."

She smiled sadly and moved into his open arms. "Thank you, Chris. You always seem to understand."

He nodded against her hair and kissed the top of her head. "Hey, I'm you're boyfriend. I'm supposed to understand." He whispered.

Troy leaned against the sinks with his arms folded as he waited for Devon. "Big D, are you nearly done?"

"Troy?" Devon asked sweetly.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Do you have any toilet paper?" He asked innocently.

Troy chuckled and walked into the cubicle beside the one Devon was occupying and ripped off a couple of squares of toilet paper from the roll. He slid them under wall separating them and saw a tiny hand grasp them. Troy straightened up and walked back out, leaning against the sinks once again. "You okay now?" He called.

There was a flush and a lock clicked before the door opened and Devon walked out. "Thank you, Troy." He walked over to the sinks and lifted his arms up to Troy who picked him up, allowing him to wash his hands.

"Big D?" Troy asked quietly.

Devon washed the soap suds from his hands furrowed his brow with concentration. "Yeah?"

"What do you think about Chris?" Troy asked.

Devon turned the faucet off and Troy set him on the floor. "He makes Gavvy happy." He said sweetly, walking over to the hand dryer.

"That isn't what I asked." Troy protested. "What do you think of him?"

Devon shrugged, turning the dryer off and rubbing the remaining moisture off on his jeans. "He's alright." He went to walk past Troy to go back to Gabriella and Chris.

Troy quickly spun around and grabbed the little boy's shoulders. Devon slowly turned around as Troy knelt in front of him. "Devon, please tell me."

Gabriella unlocked her front door, giggling as Chris' hand caressed her waist. "Thank you for breakfast. You know, I would've paid if you'd let me."

Chris rolled his eyes jokingly. "I'm not going to let my girl pay for her food, am I?"

Troy slowly walked up the garden path, Devon resting on his hip. "Heaven forbid." He muttered, making Devon giggle.

"What did you say?" Chris asked, letting go of Gabriella and turning to face Troy.

Troy sighed. "Nothing." He pushed past him once Gabriella opened the door and sauntered into the kitchen. "Right. Time for some ice cream, what do you think?"

Devon grinned and nodded his head excitedly. "I'd like that."

"Good because both you and I need cheering up." He walked over to the freezer and dug around before taking out a tub of vanilla ice cream and set it on the counter. He rummaged around some more before bringing out two tubs, holding them for Devon to see. "Chocolate or Strawberry?"

Devon bit his lip thoughtfully. "Can I have both?" He asked sweetly.

Troy laughed with a grin. "I like the sound of that."

"Troy?" Devon whispered as he followed the older boy to the cupboards, searching for some large glasses.

"What's wrong?" Troy asked in concern, bending to Devon's level.

Devon felt tears well in his eyes as he wrung his hands. "Can you promise me something?" He squeaked.

Troy rubbed the boy's hand comfortingly. "Of course."

"You won't tell Gavvy, will you?" He whispered.

Troy sighed and lifted his head to look at the ceiling. "I don't know. I mean, Gabriella and I aren't the best of friends but, you and I are. I want you to be happy and safe. And she loves you. She wants you to like whoever she goes out with." He said softly.

"Please." Devon cried, the tears flowing quickly down his cheeks.

Troy brought the younger boy into his arms. "I promise." He breathed. He pulled back and wiped Devon's tears away. "I promise, Big D. I won't tell her. But, you should."

"I can't." Devon protested.

"Why not?" Troy asked softly. "She's your sister. Don't you owe her that much?"

"But, she's happy and that's all-" Devon started tearfully.

"Oh, my God! Don, what's wrong?" Gabriella exclaimed as she rushed into the kitchen and crouched next to Troy.

Devon stayed silent and looked into Troy's eyes, shaking his head just enough to get his message across to Troy without his older sister noticing. "Uh, I accidentally stepped on Devon's foot. He's fine."

"Are you okay, Baby?" Gabriella asked gently, hugging her little brother tightly in her arms.

He sobbed into her shoulder and nodded. "I'm okay." He muttered.

Gabriella pulled back and smiled slightly. "You sure?"

Devon nodded, wiping his cheeks furiously. "I'm fine. I was getting in Troy's way. He was just making me some ice cream."

Gabriella looked at Troy in surprise. "Ice cream?"

"Hey, it's a Sundae so I thought we should have some sundaes. Besides, I was a little boy once." Troy defended.

Gabriella laughed slightly as she turned back to Devon. "You sure you're okay, Don?"

Devon nodded. "I'm okay." He confirmed, kissing her cheek.

Gabriella stood up and wandered over to the fridge, opening the door. "I'm glad you guys get on so well."

"Yeah, us too. Right, Big D?" Troy asked, still crouching on the floor.

Devon nodded his head energetically. "I'm happy Troy's here."

Gabriella shut the fridge after grabbing two cans of soda. "Good. Maybe you've finally found someone you want to spend more time with than me."

"That would never happen." Devon said sweetly.

Gabriella giggled and ruffled his dark locks – clearly something that ran in the family. "Good. You guys have fun." She walked back out of the kitchen and her footsteps faded into silence.

Troy turned back to Devon and got to his feet. "I think we should make these sundaes before the ice cream melts."

"Then it would just be a milkshake." Devon said innocently.

Troy chuckled. "Exactly. But, we don't want milkshakes, do we?"

Devon shook his head. "Troy?"

Troy looked down from getting two large glasses. "What's up?" He placed them on the counter and opened a few drawers until he found an ice cream scooper.

"Will you be my big brother?" He asked naively.

Troy bent down and picked Devon up, resting him on his hip. "I will. Because I was an only child. And I would be honoured if you were my brother."

Devon laughed. "Thank you. I love Gabriella but now she's dating Chris and…"

"Don't mention it. It's going to be okay." He promised, kissing Devon's forehead. He leant against the counter, hugging the little boy close to his body.

Devon wrapped his small arms around Troy's neck and rested his head on his shoulder. "Thank you, Troy."

"Don't worry, Big D, I'll protect you." Troy whispered, kissing Devon's cheek. Troy set Devon on the floor and clapped his hands. "Come on, then. I think we should really start on these sundaes."

Devon pushed one of the island stools over to where Troy was standing and climbed up so he was kneeling on it. "What can I do?"

"Whoa. You New Mexico guys sure do grow fast." Troy said in a shocked voice.

Devon giggled and reached out so he grabbed Troy's baseball cap. He put it on his own head but it was too big and fell over his eyes. He pushed it back up and peeked out from under the peak. "Hi."

Troy chuckled. "Do you like it?"

Devon nodded. "Yeah. It's so cool."

"Then it's yours." Troy said sincerely.