A/N: Ummm...last chapter before epilogue :'( I still don't have my laptop back :( As you can see from the title, a year has past. When it mentions prom outfits, imagine the outfits from 'a night to remember', okay? :D enjoy x

don't own HSM

Chapter 29 – One year later

Troy drove steadily through the streets of Albuquerque, a relaxed smile gracing his features. His sunglasses were protecting his eyes from the sun's harsh glare, the top was down on his convertible and one hand rested comfortably on his door. His fingers tapped to the beat of the radio…and then he cringed. "Guys, shut up!"

Maria, Devon and Lucas cowered together in the back seat. "Sorry." They muttered.

"I know you're all excited, I am, too, but some people have to concentrate to get us there in one piece." Troy exclaimed. He was eighteen and there were two weeks until graduation.

Somehow, unbeknown to him, he had survived one month without his precious Bella. After much persuasion from Troy that it was good for her, she had accepted Stanford's freshmen honours' programme for some pre-college classes. She had e-mailed him, instant messaged him and called him on a daily basis. He returned everything and only gave her family the smallest amount of time to speak to her before snatching the phone from them and escaping to their room.

Unsurprisingly, Maria and Aidan had gotten an official divorce three months after Gabriella had admitted what she had found out and the seven year old Devon had decided not to see him anymore due to the upset he had caused.

Devon had grown up immensely over the previous year – due to his ambition to want to be like Troy – and often hung out with Troy, Chad, Zeke, Jason and Ryan. He had grown on Lucas and had begun calling him 'Daddy'. Lucas had officially adopted Devon and prided in being a part of the family.

Troy shook his head in amusement as he thought of Maria and Lucas' relationship. He secretly thought of the pair as an older version of himself and Gabriella. They had grown closer, obviously making up for lost time, and just before Gabriella had left for Stanford, they had found out that Maria was pregnant again.

Troy slowed the car to a stop in the parking lot of Albuquerque airport. He turned the car off and raised his sunglasses up onto the top of his head. He slid out of the car and Lucas, Devon and Maria followed. Troy jumped up and down slightly before he could finally lock his car. He picked Devon up and hoisted him onto his shoulders. "You know, Big D, I won't be able to do this for much longer."

Devon held onto Troy's hands so as not to fall and shrugged. "Then you should do it more often before you can't."

"I might break my back if I do it more often." Troy muttered. "Hey, you okay Maria?"

Maria grinned and nodded. One hand was grasping Lucas' and the other was resting on her stomach. "I'm fabulous. My baby girl's coming home."

Lucas chuckled. "It's alright, Honey, only fifteen minutes until her plane is due to land."

Troy led the way into the busy airport and looked up at the flight timings. The flight coming down from San Francisco was on time and had ten minutes left. He set Devon onto the floor took his sunglasses off of his head to see his reflection.

Maria and Lucas both rolled their eyes. "Troy, you look fine." The pregnant female exclaimed. "You could come here straight from bed and she'd still be all over you."

"I suppose you're right." He muttered to himself, putting his sunglasses away. "I just need her right now."

Lucas raised his eyebrows. "You know this is my daughter you're talking about, right?"

Troy shrugged. "Be honest: would you rather she go out with me and you hear me talking about her endlessly, or would you rather she went out with a Chris Jones for God's sakes!"

Lucas laughed. "Hmmm…well, I like you, but if you say how beautiful she is one more time, you'll be sleeping in Devon's room, no questions asked."

"Why does everyone use my room as a punishment for Troy when they're annoyed with him?" Devon whined.

Troy ruffled his hair affectionately. "A pig would run away from the place you call your bedroom." Troy's blue eyes sparkled with humour and a chuckle rumbled through his throat at the look of disbelief which crossed Devon's face. "Seriously, Bro, have you cleaned a single spot in that-" He cut short at the familiar girl he could see approaching behind Devon.

She suddenly halted and dropped her large blue suitcase to the ground. She began rummaging through the backpack she used on board flights and reached up with one hand to push some curls behind her ear. She had grown her hair out and it now reached past her shoulder blades. She resumed her rummaging and Troy found it incredibly endearing that her necklace was still hanging proudly from her neck. She was wearing a strapless, knee-length pink dress with a white ribbon tied around her waist. The thin pink cardigan covering her shoulders contrasted with her tanned skin and Troy could almost see clearly the effects that California had had on her. As predicted by Troy, she had yet to grow an inch since he arrived in Albuquerque but he had grown nearly two inches, making his neck hurt whenever they kissed whilst standing up for any length of time – not that he minded.

"Ow!" Troy cried out, his hand instinctively going to the back of his head. He found Maria and Devon looking on in amusement and Lucas looking on in frustration. "What was that for?" He directed his attention to Lucas.

"Instead of drooling over my daughter, go and greet her." Lucas pointed to the Filipino girl standing near the baggage conveyer belt.

Troy rolled his eyes and self-consciously wiped his chin, clearing any possible saliva that was there. He took a deep breath and strode over to her, breaking into a jog as soon as he crossed the ten feet radius. He avoided her suitcase and wrapped his arms around her waist. She was so preoccupied with sorting through her bag that she let out a yelp of surprise and breathed a sigh of relief when she realised it was only her boyfriend.

"Troy!" She whined. "Couldn't you have warned me? I was busy!" She zipped her backpack back up and dropped it carelessly onto the ground. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled up at him.

"Too busy to greet your loving boyfriend?" Troy asked. Yes, he was still egotistical but Gabriella simply loved him for it.

Gabriella shrugged. "Maybe. It depends if he's going to kiss me or not."

Troy chuckled and pressed his lips firmly against her own. His arms tightened immensely around her waist and the people around them were all but invisible. Surprisingly, it was Troy who pulled back to smile lovingly down at her. "Your brother's over there."

She nodded, her eyes locked on his. "I know. Has my mom been okay?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" He asked quietly.

"I like this too much." She mumbled, resting her cheek against his chest.

He chuckled and pulled back, reaching for her suitcase. "Well, we've got to go. I think Maria will kill me if she doesn't say hi to you in ten seconds."

Gabriella picked her backpack up and smiled over at her mother. "Yeah, you're right. I've missed them."

Troy guided her through the crowds with his free hand on her lower back. "We've all missed you." He leaned down to her ear. "And Big D was fine. No hospital visits."

She smiled broadly up at him and nodded. She turned her attention to her family and giggled as she and Maria embraced simultaneously. "Mama." She cried into her mother's shoulder before pulling back and touching Maria's stomach. "How's the baby?"

"Making me a little sick but nothing I haven't coped with before. You did exactly the same." She teased. "How are you, mi hija?"

"I'm fine, Mom." Gabriella laughed and bent down to pick Devon up. "Hey, Don, how have you been?"

He grinned toothily at his older sister. "I'm great. Me and Troy have been hanging out loads."

"I know. You told me every time I called." She giggled. She turned to Lucas and hugged him somewhat awkwardly due to the little boy still resting on her hip. "Hey, Daddy." She pulled back and smiled up at him.

* * *

Gabriella bolted through the front door and dashed into the lounge, being greeted by yells and shouts of various combinations of 'welcome home'. A banner hung crookedly above the lounge window and she giggled at the misspelling of her name. "Known me forever and you don't know my name. Shame." She teased as she was ambushed by her friends.

Sharpay and Taylor hugged her simultaneously, Gabriella getting squashed between the two. "Bolton's driving us nuts." Sharpay muttered, however, she was way too happy to sound the slightest bit angry.

Taylor finally pulled back and managed to disentangle the blonde from her friend. "I don't know. Evans was taking it pretty rough, too." Troy's voice said calmly, smirking at the blonde who folded her arms.

Zeke's arms wound comfortingly around his girlfriend who visibly relaxed. "Nice to have you back, Gabs. I've taught Troy a few things he's dying to show you."

Gabriella raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

Troy nodded proudly. "I can make toast!"

Gabriella laughed and leaned up to kiss him chastely. "I'm glad. Our romantic meals will be…toast."

Everyone laughed and Kelsi hugged Gabriella timidly. "I hope you had a good time at Stanford."

Gabriella and Kelsi separated from their embrace and Gabriella nodded. "I had a great time. It was amazing. I learnt so much."

"Yeah, what we call a good time." Chad muttered sarcastically, making Taylor hit him.

Gabriella hugged Chad tightly. "If Taylor was there, you'd enjoy it."

"Please," Jason muttered, "he'd enjoy anything if Taylor was there."

Gabriella moved onto Jason and laughed. "What about my Wildcat over there?"

"Hey!" Troy exclaimed indignantly.

Gabriella giggled and then hugged Ryan and Martha. "So, what's been happening?"

"Nothing much, really. Right, Troy?" Gabriella caught the smirk that Taylor was sending her boyfriend.

Gabriella turned to him and caught his eye. "What is it?"

Troy dug his hand into his pocket and showed her two tickets. "Will you go to prom with me?"

Gabriella nodded excitedly and wrapped her arms around his neck. His arms wound around her waist and she smiled up at him. "I'd be honoured."

"No backing out?" He asked quietly.

She shook her head, giggling softly. "No backing out. I promise."

He pulled out of their embrace and stood behind her, covering her eyes. "I want to show you something."

"Troy," She giggled, "I want to see our friends."

"Actually, this will shut him up so go." Sharpay muttered, clearly annoyed.

Troy chuckled and began leading Gabriella through towards the back garden. "I really hope you like it." He said nervously.

"Well, if you're there, I will." She said reassuringly.

He chuckled and turned her around so that she was facing him. He backed her up until she was pushed up until her back was pressed against the trunk of her tree. "Welcome home."

She smiled up at him as he caged her in and rested his forehead against hers. "How are you going to show me?"

"Well, think of it like this: your prom will be so much better than last year." He whispered.

"Better than last year? Isn't that kind of impossible?" She asked cutely.

He shook his head and kissed her nose. "It's very possible. Trust me."

"So, what did you want to show me?" She asked softly.

Troy pushed off of the wall and grinned at her. "You know how you're the perfect girlfriend?"

"I remember you telling me everyday for the past year." She shrugged, not really knowing where he was going with his question.

"Well, I'm going to show you how I'm the perfect boyfriend." He said confidently.

She placed a hand on his chest and smiled in disbelief. "You are. You've helped me through so much. You don't need to do anything."

"I wanted to." He whispered. "Come with me." He took her hand and began leading her to the other side of the tree to reveal a tall, wooden ladder. "I built it with Big D and Lucas while you were gone. Some of the guys helped as well. Do you like it?"

Gabriella stared up in awe at the perfect replica of Troy's tree house back in California. She covered her mouth with her hand and laughed in disbelief. She leapt towards Troy and she lifted her off of the ground and spun her around before he set her feet on the soft grass again. "I love it." She whispered, looking in Troy's eyes.

Troy took her hand again and gestured to the ladder. "Go on."

Gabriella bit her lip in anticipation as she began climbing the wooden ladder. She hoisted herself onto the wooden decking surrounding the tree house and turned to face Troy as he straightened up. "You did this for me?"

Troy nodded and took both of her hands in his. "Yeah. I know how much you loved it back in Cali." He wrapped his arms around her and smiled crookedly down on her. "And I'll build another one when we get our own place, okay?"

Gabriella nodded and leaned up to kiss him. "You are the perfect boyfriend."

* * *

Gabriella laughed along with Chad as he spun her around and brought her back towards him. "You surprised me, Chad. I didn't know you could dance."

"It's called having Taylor McKessie as a girlfriend." Chad yelled over the music.

Gabriella giggled. Her dark curls were held back at the sides of her face by two silver barrettes and then left to tumble gracefully down her back. Her spaghetti strap dress was white with a high waistline just under her breasts. An off-white lace with flowers stitched on it flowed from the waist=line to where the dress ended at her mid-thighs. "I wonder when Troy will dance with me."

"He will." The tall boy replied. "Trust me. You've been home a day. I'm surprised he lasted through getting ready."

Gabriella cast her eyes downward and sighed. "Do you know what's up with him?"

"What do you mean?" Chad asked uncomfortably. "Oh, hey, there's my girlfriend." He dashed after Taylor and left Gabriella standing by herself.

"Hey, Gabs, where'd Chad go?" Sharpay asked as she approached. Her hot pink prom dress was typically Sharpay and no one had been surprised at her choice.

Gabriella began dancing with her friend and she sighed. "I asked him what was up with Troy and then he made a dash for it. I mean, last night, Troy and I were colouring and he wasn't himself."

"You know, we're all legally adults here. You can say the actual term." Sharpay teased.

Gabriella laughed and she felt the heat rise in her cheeks. "I don't like saying it. Anyway, I'm worried."

"Don't be." Sharpay assured her. "It'll be fine. Trust me."

Across the room at the refreshments table, Troy stood leaning against the wall with his arms folded. He was wearing his black suit from a year ago and his eyes lingered on the brunette girl dancing gracefully with Sharpay. He knew she was worried about him. She ought to be with the thoughts running through his head. He was pretty sure that he hadn't been breathing since he saw her enter the limo.

"You nervous?" A voice from beside him asked.

Troy smiled slightly as he turned to face Chad, Jason, Zeke and Ryan. "Hell yeah. Beyond."

Ryan chuckled. "You'll do fine."

Troy turned back to Gabriella and sighed. "Well, Dudes, you going to wish me luck?"

Each of the young men slapped Troy on the back and Ryan pointed a warning finger at him. "You better not screw this up."

"Thanks for your support, Ryan." Troy muttered. He ran a hand threw his hair as he approached his girlfriend. "Good evening, Ladies."

Gabriella smiled brightly up at him, her heels making her visibly taller but still shorter than Troy. "Hey, Troy. Do you want to dance?"

Troy slipped his hand into hers and shook his head. "Not right this minute Bella but, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Gabriella glanced at Sharpay who nodded. "I guess."

Troy began leading her out of the gym and towards the cafeteria. "We can dance after I've talked to you, I promise."

She sighed and followed grudgingly. "Troy, what is up with you tonight? Something's on your mind and I want to know what."

Troy continued pulling her up the stairs silently, a smile pulling at his lips. He could sense her frustration and chuckled softly under his breath. "Bella, calm down." He pulled her onto the rooftop garden and he smiled when he heard her gasp.

Fairy lights wrapped around the railings twinkled against the night sky. Rose petals were scattered on the floor, too. She giggled and bit her lips. "This is amazing."

"I'm glad you like it. It wasn't easy." He admitted.

She walked over to him and kissed him resolutely. "I love it."

"Yeah?" He took her hand and led her over to the railing. He looked out over the darkened Albuquerque and sighed. "It's hard to believe everything we've been through when you look at us now."

Gabriella nodded and looked over at her hometown. "I know. I can't believe we've come so far."

Troy reached into his pocket and looked down on the small packet of cheese and onion hula hoops. He ripped the packet open and offered it to her. "Hula hoop?"

She giggled and nodded, dipping her hand into the packet and retrieving one. "That was random." She popped it into her mouth and giggled.

He raised his eyebrows. "You know, considering you just returned from Stanford's early orientation programme, you're not that smart." He mumbled.

"What do you mean?" She asked in confusion. "I don't see you getting into Stanford."

"Me? Stanford? That's never going to happen." Troy rolled his eyes. He handed her the packet of remaining hula hoops. "Hold this."

Gabriella took it from him, looking slightly bewildered. "Troy, what's going on?"

"Well, I'm going to have just do this." He muttered.

"Do what?" She exclaimed.

Troy took her free hand and kissed it. "I love you." He dropped to one knee and reached into the pocket of his pants to retrieve a red jewellery box. He snapped it open to reveal a sparkling engagement ring. He look up at Gabriella whose chocolate eyes were wide with shock. "I made you a promise. Will you marry me?"

Gabriella laughed in disbelief and tears began streaming down her cheeks. She nodded frantically and pulled Troy to his feet. "Yes."

He kissed her fervently and blindly slipped the ring onto her finger. He pulled back and took a hula hoop out of the packet. He offered it to her and raised his eyebrows. He stuffed the case back into his pocket with his other hand. "I love you."

She giggled as he dropped the hula hoop into her mouth. "I love you, too. Why did you even ask? I mean, I'm not going anywhere."

He shrugged and wrapped his arms around her. "I wanted to make it official, you know?"

She raised her left hand and giggled. "I love it. It's perfect."

Troy sighed. "Yeah. With the lack of money I have, it was difficult to find. Big D helped me pick it out."

She smiled brightly up at her fiancé. "I love it."

Troy smirked down at her. "You know your parents and Big D are staying at your grandparents tonight, right? When I asked them for their permission, they said they'd leave the house for us tonight."

She blushed and bit her lip. "This is what you meant, isn't it? When you said this prom would be better than last year."

"I hoped it would be." He shrugged slightly.

She nodded and leaned up to kiss his cheek. "It was best prom I could've dreamed of."