I'll Be Home For Christmas
by: LunarEclipse360
A/N: so, it is now 4:20 in the morning and I've been up all night trying to finish this chapter for you guys. Sorry I kept you waiting for so long. School had me stressed out. I know that this chapter seems to go a bit fast, but the story will slow down a bit by the next one. If you find any spelling or grammar errors, please feel free to point them out to me so I can fix them. I own no rights to Christina Aguilera's Christmas Time.
Chapter 2
He walked with purpose as he strode past the security checkpoint towards the customer service desk. Gabriella followed behind him, trying not to lose him in the crowd of people. At one point, she tripped and nearly hit the ground. Quick reflexes allowed him to catch her before she fell and his blue eyes reflected concern for her. She smiled, signaling that she was fine, and he returned it. He helped her regain her footing and grasped her hand, holding it tightly in his grip. They continued towards the customer service desk, this time without worry that one would lose the other. A line formed in front of their destination and an inaudible sigh escaped his lips. He guessed they weren't the only ones who decided to grab their luggage and find another way to get to the other side of the country.
"I hope this doesn't take too long," he mumbled.
"Are we getting a rental? Cause I can go and do that while you wait online."
"No, we're taking my car."
"You sure you wanna drive that all the way to the East Coast and then have to drive it all the way back?"
He shrugged. "Beats having to dish out money to rent a car. Besides, I feel more comfortable driving my own vehicle than one that I'm not familiar with."
She tilted her head. "So, you're a cheapskate and you have a mild form of OCD or something."
His eyes narrowed. "I'm not cheap and I don't have OCD or anything like that. I don't have to take you with me, I was just being nice."
"Sorry," she said, realizing that she crossed a line with her comment. "I didn't mean to say that."
Looking at Gabriella, he realized how sorry she truly was and regretted saying what he had. Sighing, he scratched the back of his neck; a habit when he was nervous, upset, embarrassed or regretful. "It's fine. I'm sorry for what I said."
"You had every right to. I mean, it was your idea to do this, so I should just be grateful that you decided to include me."
"No, I didn't have every right to; not with the way I said it."
A small smile crept onto her lips. "I'll forgive you, if you forgive me."
"Deal," he responded, a grin on his face.
Going back to the situation at hand, they turned to the long line in front of them; both staying relatively quiet as they waited for it to move. Surprisingly, it didn't take long for them to reach the front of the line. Before they knew it, they were next to be seen by a service representative.
"Next." Troy stepped up to the counter, but Gabriella stayed behind; knowing that she had to be seen separately. "How may I help you, sir?"
"I was wondering if it was possible to get my luggage back."
"You had it checked in?" He nodded. "Alright, I'm just going to need your name."
"Troy Bolton."
"And your flight number?" she asked, after typing his name into the computer.
"Flight 2410."
"Okay." Her fingers clacked away at the keyboard as she searched the database for his bag. "Here we are. Flight 2410 to New York, JFK." He nodded. "I'm guessing you won't be flying with us."
"No. I don't know how long that storm's gonna last, but I need to get to New York."
She nodded. "Okay, I'm just going to request its release and I'm going to need you to go to the airline office at the other end of this terminal in order to pick it up."
"That's fine."
"Just make sure you have ID on you."
"I will. Thank you."
"You're welcome, and I hope you have a wonderful holiday."
A smile found his way to his lips before he walked away; waiting for Gabriella at the other end of the counter. When she appeared at his side moments later, they headed to the far side of the airport to the airline office to retrieve their bags. Once both of their luggage was in their possession, Troy led the brunette to the parking lot and to his black Mercedes-Benz CLS550 coupe. The woman stared in awe at the vehicle. She had never known someone so young to own such a car.
"Are you rich or something?" she asked as he opened the trunk.
Smirking, he glanced back at her and shrugged. "Or something." He motioned for her to hand over her suitcase and she did so willingly. "I'm the youngest executive at my company."
"Really?" she asked, her curiosity spiking. "And what is it that you do?"
"Sports marketing."
"Sounds interesting," she said, though the tone in her voice suggested otherwise.
He chuckled and closed the trunk. "Despite what you might think, I actually like my job. I've always been knee deep in sports stuff anyway, so I thought why not turn it into something productive." Like the gentleman that he was, he went to the passenger door and held it open for you.
She smiled softly as she slid into the seat; watching as he closed the door behind her. He walked around to the other side and took his place in the driver's seat. Inserting the key into the ignition, the car roared to life and he reached up behind him to grab the seatbelt. She followed suit and strapped herself in. He entered the address of his parents' residence into the GPS system and pulled out of the parking spot. Within minutes, they were heading towards the exit of the garage.
"So when you say knee deep in sports stuff, what do you mean exactly?" she asked as they drove out into the night.
He shrugged, keeping his eyes on the road. "To put it plain and simple, my house was a sports house. There was never a day that went by that my dad wasn't watching some game; whether it would be baseball, basketball, football, hockey or soccer, my dad watched it and he would make me watch it with him."
"And I'm just going to take a wild guess and say that you were an athlete in school."
Nodding, he glanced at her. "You're right; I was in high school and all throughout college."
"What sport?"
"Basketball. My dad was the coach of my high school team and he drilled the game into my head since before I could talk. I learned how to shoot a basketball before I learned how to walk."
"Wow. Talk about dedicated."
He chuckled, albeit bitterly. "Not dedicated, obsessed is more like it. My dad was obsessed with me living out the dream that he wanted for me…even though I had a different dream."
"And what was that dream?"
"Honestly?" he asked, a grin forming on his face. "I wanted to be a rock star."
"Really?" A soft smile made its way to her face.
"Yeah. I even formed a band in high school with three of my best friends and I was good at it, too, but my dad thought it was a stupid dream." He shook his head. "As if the dream of becoming a professional basketball player was any better. At least when I played with my band, I was happy. Playing the game, I mean don't get me wrong, I loved it, but it wasn't what I wanted to do for the rest of my life."
She shifted in her seat, turning to face him. "So, how did Troy Bolton, rock star, turn into Troy Bolton, sports marketer?"
He sighed heavily and gripped the steering wheel. "He grew up."
Feeling that he wanted to end the conversation, she turned back to face the windshield and let the silence consume them. Long forgotten emotions bubbled within his chest as he drove out of Los Angeles. He couldn't blame Gabriella for causing him to talk about the dreams of his teenaged self, she hadn't known the pain behind the reason why he gave it up. Still, it upset him to think about those days. They stayed quiet for a while; neither one bothering to speak. Finally, an hour into their journey, he spoke up; wanting to know more about his female companion.
"So, tell me, what do you do for a living?"
"I teach ballet to children."
"Sounds fun."
She smiled. "It is. It's so rewarding to watch a child come in with no experience whatsoever and see them grow over time."
"What made you want to be a ballet teacher?"
"Like you, I've been doing ballet for most of my life. My mother enrolled me in a class when I was four and I never stopped. I love it. I've even taken on other dance styles. It's so…freeing…to just let go and put all of your emotions into your movements."
His lips upturned as he listened to her. She spoke with passion as she continued to tell him about her profession. Never had he met a woman who was so into what she did for a living. It was a change from many of the women he worked with who hated their jobs. Suddenly, she stopped talking and he glanced over at her, wondering why.
"I'm rambling, aren't I?"
He shook his head. "Not at all. It's actually a fresh breath of air to listen to a woman talk so passionately about her job than to listen to one who could care less about it."
"Not many people go for a job they love, they just go for the ones that pay the bills."
"Unfortunate, but true."
Shifting, she rested her elbow beside the window and ran her hand through her hair. "How long, exactly, is it going to take us to get to New York?"
"A day and a couple of hours. Why; already getting sick of me?" he asked, grinning.
"Not at all," she answered, her own grin on her face. "Just curious."
He glanced at her; still grinning from ear to ear. He watched as she reached for the radio, stopping to get his permission. He nodded and she switched it on, scanning the stations for something to listen to. She came to a station that was playing back to back Christmas music and stopped. Her mouth moved to the words, but no sound came out as she stared out the window. His grin turned into a small smile and tapped his finger to the beat of the song on the steering wheel. In all honesty, he had been skeptical at first about this little road trip he suggested; unsure if he would regret it. But, he was starting to enjoy it. True, it might take a while to get to their destination, but he doubted that this trip would be anything but boring.
::
December 23
Six hours later, the pair had arrived in St. George, Utah. It took some convincing on his part to get Gabriella to see that stopping in Las Vegas to gamble for an hour or two was not a good idea at the moment, since they were on a time schedule. She finally saw reasoning and, with a disappointed sigh, resolved to watching the infamous casinos of Sin City from afar. Only needing to refuel his car, Troy stopped at a local gas station and Gabriella took that opportunity to go inside the store and shop for food. He watched her through the window the entire time; his eyes following her as she weaved through one aisle after the next. It was a good ten minutes later that she finally found her way to the cash register and he was certain that she had bought up the whole store. She emerged with bags after bags of just junk food and drinks (energy drinks, soda, juice and water).
"Sure you got everything, cause I swear you left something behind," he said, jokingly.
"Ha-ha. You're so funny."
He chuckled before opening the door for her. "I know."
She rolled her eyes and got in; mumbling something that sounded like 'smug son-of-a-bitch', which caused him to laugh harder. Closing the door behind her, he walked to the other side and climbed in. Soon, they were back on the Interstate; heading in the direction of Denver, Colorado.
"How long until we get to Denver?"
"Ten hours."
She wrinkled her nose in confusion; an action he found rather cute. "You sure you can drive that long without sleep?" she asked, concerned about his well-being. "I can take over in a couple of hours, if you want."
"I'll be fine. When we get to Denver, we'll switch off."
"If you say so."
"In the meantime, you should eat something and then try to get some sleep."
Nodding in agreement, she reached into her bag of goodies and pulled out a bag of chips. She ate them in silence as she watched the world go by; the only sound was that of her eating and the radio. Troy kept his attention on the highway, though sometimes the music would drift into his ears and he would bob his head to the song. A soft gasp resounded beside him and he chanced a glance to Gabriella, wondering what caused her to make that sound.
"I love this song," she said, before turning up the volume.
Smiling, she began to sing along and dance within the confines of her seatbelt. Troy laughed at the hyperactive female as she moved like she wasn't inside of a car. Her energy made him want to join along, but his responsibility to driving prevented him. Instead, he nodded his head with the beat of the song.
When I was young, every Christmas Eve I could not sleep
Trying to catch that old Saint Nick leaving presents under my tree
And every year, I'd fall asleep laying in my bed
Dreaming of a million sugar plums dancing in my head
Oh, how much joy it is at Christmastime
Spirit of giving is in our lives
Oh, how much joy it brings to see the ones you love
This year's going to be the best Christmas because…
There'll be family and Christmas cheer
Peace and goodwill to all men
Everybody is home for Christmas
Everybody is home
Sneaking a kiss under the mistletoe
I want a white Christmas so let it snow
Everybody is home for Christmas
Everybody is home this Christmastime.
Although she sung low, he could still hear her voice and he had to admit, she sounded pretty good. He grinned as she continued to the next verse, the volume of her voice increasing slightly. He had a feeling that if he had known her in high school, he would have asked her to join his band. Yes, there weren't many bands that had a male and female lead singer, but that didn't mean they couldn't exist. Keeping his eyes on the road, he listened to her belt out the words to the song with confidence like she'd done it before.
Sneaking a kiss under the mistletoe
I want a white Christmas so let it snow
Everybody is home for Christmas
Everybody is home this Christmastime
"Ever thought of becoming a professional singer?" he asked, interrupting her from continuing on with the song.
"No. I mean, I like it, but I couldn't see myself living that life. Not much privacy, you know?" He nodded. "Besides, I get nervous singing in front of a large group of people. I'd never be able to perform in front of an entire audience."
"That's too bad. Your voice is amazing."
"Really?" He wordlessly nodded 'yes' and she smiled. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
::
Reaching the twelve hour mark since they began their journey, Troy found himself driving into a rest stop just outside of Grand Junction, Colorado; four hours away from Denver. His companion had fallen asleep well over three hours ago and had remained that way, leaving him to drive with just the radio as background noise. Pulling into a parking space, he turned off the engine and turned to the woman beside him. He gently shook her awake and watched as she slowly opened her brown eyes.
"Where are we?" she asked, looking around.
"Just outside Grand Junction, Colorado." Nodding, she stretched slightly and he had to avert his eyes when a sliver of skin appeared beneath her risen clothing. Out of nowhere, her stomach began to growl and she blushed in embarrassment. He chuckled and removed his seatbelt. "Come on. Let's go get something to eat."
She followed close behind as they walked into the rest stop. Her eyes took in the variety of fast food services that the building housed and tried to decide on one. Troy made it known to her that he didn't care what she chose, but while she was choosing, he would be in the restroom. After she acknowledged what he had said, he disappeared into the direction of the bathrooms. When he returned, he found her on the line that led to Burger King and went to stand beside her.
"Know what you want?" he asked.
"Yep. You?"
"Working on it."
By the time they reached the register, he had picked out what he wanted and they ordered their food. After paying for it and being handed two trays with food atop, they headed for the seating area. Conversation was kept to a minimum as they both realized how hungry they truly were. Within minutes, they'd finished eating and Troy advised her to visit the restroom before they left. She followed his advice and did so before they headed back to the car.
"Is it weird that I'm still hungry?" she asked.
"No, but you have all of those snacks, so you can eat those."
"Oh, yeah. Almost forgot about that bag."
"You forgot you nearly cleaned out that gas station back in St. George?" he asked, teasingly.
"I did not!"
"You did, too."
"I did not," she said, pushing his shoulder, playfully.
Without thinking, he grabbed her hand and pulled her flush against him. "You did, too," he answered; his voice low, a smirk on his face.
She blushed, profusely, at the closeness of their bodies and he noticed. Realizing what he'd done, he released her hand and stepped away from her, clearing his throat to alleviate the awkwardness. They continued towards the car in complete silence. Once they had restarted their journey, Gabriella slipped back into dreamland while Troy drove the remaining four hours into Denver.