I don't own anything.
A/N: Alright it's time for an update but first off I want to thank my reviewers from last week; Phelycia, NaeNae1495, Erieaud, sweetchocolate26, Ilovefics, 5k, and Mestinylover. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter and please remember to Review.
P.S. Mestinylover-does your name mean you like Matthew and Destiny from OLTL just wondering cause if so I like them too.
Baby S
Chapter Thirteen
Taylor laid back on the lawn chair and watched as Troy practiced his free-throws. As she watched as she couldn't help but think about how mechanical he was about the shot. He had been out there for over an hour and she felt like telling him that he had mastered this shot but he kept going. His shirt was soaked with sweat but he kept going. He was so determined to get play well for the team and she admired his drive. "So you just gonna stare at me all afternoon?" he asked as he stepped forward to get his rebound and then squared back up for the shot.
"I thought you wanted me out here?" she asked as she looked at him. She heard Troy chuckle at that and she knew he was thinking about how he had thrown her over his shoulder and carried her outside to the lawn chair she was currently sitting in.
"I do baby," he said as he turned around and looked at her. "But I don't want to be objectified." Taylor quirked an eyebrow at that and smiled as she now realized that Troy was about to take a break from his shooting practice. She looked over her shoulder and then back at Troy who was grinning at her as he dropped his basketball and stepped on it to make sure that it didn't go anywhere. "Although I'm not to offended that you want to objectify me."
"Troy your mother is still um heated by the last time," she said blushing as she remembered his little workout session. Troy shrugged his shoulders and continued to walk towards her like a predator coming for it's prey. Taylor watched him quietly and nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard footsteps coming out into the backyard.
"Oh geez, did we interrupt." she looked over her shoulder and saw Chad and Zeke standing there in basketball practice attire with Sharpay and Gabrielle with them. "Cause if you need some time I'm sure we can find something on the t.v."
"Boy must you be so nasty." Sharpay said as she reached out and slapped Chad upside the head.
"Hey don't hit my boyfriend, he's just stating what all of us are thinking." she said as she sent Taylor a look that plainly told her friend that she would be asking for details at a later date. Tearing her gaze off her friends she looked back at Troy who looked like someone had just run over his puppy.
"I thought I said to come over at two." Chad pulled out his cell phone and looked at it and then glanced back at Troy and grinned.
"Oops!" Shaking his head, Troy picked up his basketball and bounced it a few times. "So um are you ready cause the offer still stands."
"Zeke." Troy called out, the boy in question smacked Chad upside his head as well. Chad scurried away from them and clutched his head.
"Dammit ya'll gonna give me brain damage if you keep doing that." Sharpay smirked at that and shrugged her shoulders.
"I think we're a bit to late for that Danforth."
"Oh ha ha!" he said as Gabrielle made her way over to him to offer him a bit of comfort. Troy watched them for a few moments before looking at Taylor who looked poised to ask a question.
"We're going to the park to play a few pick-up games, you can stay here if you want."
"Oh no she can't she has to come too." Sharpay said as she looked over at Taylor. "We have mandatory girl talk." Rolling her eyes, Taylor looked back at Troy and sighed.
"I guess I'm coming." he smiled then and walked over to the lawn chair. She watched as he sat down at her side.
"You gonna cheer me on."
"I might cheer on Chad-he looks like he needs some people in his corner."
"Oh thank you Taylor, now if only you could teach your wayward boyfriend to be as nice as you." he said with a smirk as he looked at Troy who just rolled his eyes at that. Taylor just smiled up at Chad and then looked back at Troy.
"That might not be a bad idea." Troy raised an eyebrow at that and glared over at Chad who was silently laughing at the turn of events.
"Keep it up Danforth and you won't be back over here ever."
"Not ever." Chad said with a playful pout, Troy moved to stand up but Taylor reached out and grabbed hold of his hand. She smiled at him then and rubbed her thumb along his knuckles until he calmed down. "So are we about to head out?" Troy shrugged his shoulders and looked at Taylor who just nodded her head.
"Yeah let's go I'm ready to play." he said as he stood up and gently pulled Taylor to her feet. Wrapping an arm around her waist, they followed their friends back into the house. Poking his head into the kitchen he saw his mother wiping down the counters.
"Mom, we're gonna go down to the park." Lillian Bolton turned around and looked at her son and then Taylor before nodding her head.
"Okay but you guys just remember to come back before it gets to late. I don't want you down at the park at night."
"No worries on that one Mrs. Bolton. I'm with them." Sharpay said proudly as she looked at the guys who were all staring at her now. "What? I'm not staying at some park all day so of course we're gonna go." Rolling his eyes, Troy looked back at his mother and pointed towards Sharpay.
"I guess that's reassurance that we'll be back before nightfall, later."
"Bye and you watch for Taylor."
"You don't have to tell me twice." he said as they headed out of the house. As they stepped outside and onto the sidewalk, Chad stole the basketball from Troy and started dribbling down the sidewalk. "So do you know who'll be there for the today?" Troy asked from Taylor's side, Chad turned and bounced the ball a couple of times before shrugging his shoulders.
"Not really sure but I heard some of the older guys were suppose to be there so hopefully we can all get into a game." Troy nodded his head and reached down for Taylor's hand. She looked up at him but latched on anyway. Thankfully the park wasn't that far from Troy's house and they made it there in under fifteen minutes. Chad led the group of them into the park and waved a couple of guys who were currently practicing their shots. "Hey guys what's up?" he asked cheerfully, one of them turned towards Chad and sent him a little glare.
"You're late."
"I didn't know I was on the clock." Chad said as the smile fell away.
"You were the minute you decided to bring him along." the boy said as he nodded towards Troy who sent him a glare in return.
"Is there a problem?"
"I thought you weren't gonna play basketball anymore which is why I told Chad he was late, he wasted our time bringing you here." Troy glared at Mark Hudson coldly before lifting his hands up. Chad tossed him the basketball.
"I'm playing didn't Coach tell you." he asked as he bounced the ball once and then caught it between his arm and side.
"I figured he was mistaken." Mark replied back with a shrug of his shoulders. "After all you did tell me you weren't gonna play anymore and I believed you." Troy nodded and then tossed the ball at Mark who caught it easily.
"Well I changed my mind." Troy stated firmly, "So do you wanna play or are you just gonna waste my time." Mark raised an eyebrow at that and he looked over at his friends before glancing back at Troy.
"Alright fine then but we aren't gonna take it easy on you just because you took a few months off." Taylor looked over at Troy as Mark said that insensitivity statement. Zeke tilted his head back and released a heavy sigh.
"You're going to far dude." he stated coolly as he looked at Mark. "To damn far." Taylor watched as Mark dropped the basketball on the pavement and looked at Troy who was silently clenching his fists no doubt trying to calm himself from rushing over and beating the life out of Mark. Rubbing a hand over his face, Mark sighed and and looked at Troy.
"Damn man I'm sorry, I didn't mean that the way it sounded." he finally said as he looked at his friend. Nodding his head, Troy walked further onto the court while looking at the other man. "You gotta know I didn't mean it like that." Mark said trying to rush and right the wrong he had just done. Troy nodded his head and pointed at the goal behind him.
"Well you can make it up to me by playing and shutting your mouth." he said as he reached out and slammed the basketball out of Mark's hands. "Like you said I'm out of practice so why don't you help me out some." he said as he turned around and took a shot, making it effortlessly. "Since you know I walked away from the game." Mark cleared his throat and looked at him moment and then motioned for his friends to get ready. Troy walked over to Taylor without looking back at Mark and his friends. He knew Zeke and Chad were getting ready so he felt comfortable going over to talk to her for a few moments.
"Are you okay, Troy? He was so rude, I can't believe he said that." Taylor exclaimed as soon as he was within ear-shot. Troy smiled at how defensive she was when it came to him. Leaning forward he placed a quick kiss on her temple and sighed.
"I'm fine-Mark always let's his mouth run before he actually thinks about what he's saying." he stated off-handedly as he took another glance at Mark and Taylor could see that what Mark said had hurt him.
"Are you sure you're alright, Troy?" she asked again. He smiled at her concern and bent down slightly so he could kiss her on the lips.
"I'll be fine," he said as he rubbed his hands up and down her arms. "Now we don't have to stay out here all afternoon, if you want to leave just let me know and we'll head out." he said as he reached out and grabbed her hand and gave it a small squeeze.
"Okay now you go and beat him cause he really gets on my nerve." Troy smile at that and nodded his head.
"What my lady wants my lady gets." he said with a wink as he turned and headed back on the court as Taylor turned and headed to the small set of bleachers that were put up on the side. She settled down beside Gabrielle and Sharpay.
"You and Troy are oh so cute." Sharpay stated with a bright smile as she looked at her friend, Taylor rolled her eyes at her statement. "What you guys totally are so how is it living with your boyfriend I bet it's exciting."
"His mom tries to keep us apart as much as possible."
"Well I know why," Gabriella said as she gave Taylor a knowing look while Sharpay looked at her slightly confused. "What come on Sharpay can't you tell, those two can't keep their hands off one another."
"Which is why Mrs. Bolton has to keep an eye on us constantly cause Troy is really," she paused as she tried to think of a way to describe her boyfriend's behavior. "He's really bad when we're at home." As she finished her sentence, Sharpay and Gabriella shared a look and then started laughing leaning on one another as they tried to calm down from Taylor's statement. Huffing, Taylor crossed her arms over her chest and frowned.
"What?"
"Please bad, is that really what you wanna say?" Sharpay said as she wiped beneath her eyes. "Although I'm sure you mean that Troy's bad in a totally good way right." Taylor blushed at that as her friends once again shared a look. Reaching out, Sharpay placed a hand on Taylor's shoulder and sighed as she finished up laughing.
"Don't worry we totally understand but seriously you two are too cute."
"Exactly, now about this whole mother thing do you have anything you want to share." Taylor looked at her friends and then sighed.
"Well there was this one time when he wanted me to help him exercise. . ."
Troy took one last look at Taylor before walking towards Chad and Zeke who were standing around waiting on him to join. Mark had his hands crossed over his chest as he looked at them and then finally he spoke. "Alright so what are we gonna do?" Troy looked over at the basket, and tried to think over what he could possibly do.
"How about this-the best out of three and each game goes up to twenty-five." Mark looked back at his men for confirmation that they were okay with that arrangement and then turned back around and nodded his head.
"Sounds fine to me but are you sure you can play that long."
"Don't worry about me-worry about winning." Troy said as he reached out and grabbed the basketball. "And since you pissed me off we get the ball first." Mark shrugged his shoulders and walked over towards the basket so he could be ready for defense.
"Sure I figured you guys would need any advantage possible so go ahead." Troy narrowed his eyes at Mark and then looked at Zeke and Chad who just wore grim expressions on their faces. Mark smirked at that and looked over at his friends who were just shaking their heads. "Cause if cause you haven't played for a while doesn't mean I'm gonna take it easy you guys. I don't like to lose."
"Neither do I," Troy said as he bounced the ball towards Mark. "Check." Catching the ball, Mark rolled it in his hands a little before passing it back.
"Check."
"My goodness, I might not know much about basketball but I'm sure it shouldn't be that rough." Taylor said wincing as Troy laid the ball up and got slammed in the back. She watched as he hit the fence just as his shot easily went into the hoop. "Mark is such an asshole." she muttered aloud, Sharpay nodded her head in agreement, still pissed about the boy hitting Zeke a moment earlier. They continued to watch and both reached over to grab Gabriella who jumped up at the sight of Chad getting knocked to the ground. She went off in a straight of spanish as they held her back from going out there to fight Mark herself.
"Girl will you sit down." Sharpay said as she used both hands to push Gabriella back in her seat. Huffing, Gabriella finally sat down and glared at Mark who was laughing as he went towards the basket only to have the stuffing knocked out of him by both Zeke and Troy. The girls all cheered as Mark went crashing down laughing at the look of complete and utter shock on his face before he glared up at Troy and Zeke. Sharpay laughed and shook her head at that, while nudging Taylor. "I guess things have just gotten even huh."
"Yeah I guess so but I hope they don't start fighting." Taylor stated as she looked at Mark yelling at his teammates. "If they start fighting we're gonna leave."
"You don't want to see them fight."
"No, I don't want to see them fight, Shar. Besides Troy might kick their asses and then that'll cause tense on the team which is something he doesn't need. He's already putting himself under enough pressure. He doesn't need to had any stuff to the list of things that's bothering him." she replied softly as she looked at her friends.
The girls continued to watch the game until around six o'clock but thankfully the games between Troy and Mark were over. Taylor watched as Mark walked over to Troy and gave him a handshake while whispering something in his ear while the other guys looked on. Once that was done, Mark and his friends headed out of there while Troy, Zeke and Chad made their way over to the girls.
"So who won?" Sharpay said as Zeke helped her off the bleachers.
"We did-two to one." Chad said with a cocky smirk as he wrapped an arm around Gabriella's waist. "Lost the first game but we pulled it out in the end, especially when Troy over here went Kobe on them or should I say Dirk."
"Man do you have to be so lame-all the time." Troy said as he reached out for Taylor's hand and gently led her down the bleachers.
"Whatever Troy." Chad said with a smirk. "You know I'm right either way, you starting killing those guys. Shoot we should have made a bet on who would win." he said snapping his fingers as he looked at Troy.
"We weren't gonna bet." Troy stated with a shake of his head as he looked at his friend while pulling Taylor to his side. Chad just shrugged and mumbled something about it being his lost before looking down at his watch.
"So what are you guys gonna do for the rest of the day after all it's only six o'clock on a Saturday we could all go the movies or something."
"Well you guys go ahead Taylor and I are suppose to be sharing dinner with my mom, she wanted to cook today and we promised to be there for that." Chad nodded his head and sighed.
"Man if you had a car, we'd just wait till after your dinner. I can't wait till you get your license." Troy opened his mouth to reply but stopped momentarily as Taylor tensed up by his side. He looked down at her curiously before looking back at Chad.
"I only have a few more months so you're just gonna have to wait." he said as he gave another look at Taylor. "Hey we better go see you Monday." he said as he reached down and grabbed hold of Taylor's hand. Smiling, he led her out of the park. As they started walking away, he looked down at her and sighed. "Do you mind telling me what's wrong?"
"What makes you think something's wrong?" she asked softly as she looked up at him, Troy rolled his eyes at that and released a sigh.
"Come on, when Chad was talking about-," he trailed off as he realized what had made her tense up. Taylor released a small laugh once he paused in realization. "You don't want me to drive because of what happened to your father?" he stated and asked at the same time. Taylor looked up at him then and nodded, she wasn't even gonna try to lie to him about this.
"I don't want to lose you, Troy." she whispered as she hoped the tears in her eyes didn't fall, she didn't want to start crying. Troy stopped moving and turned towards her and cupped her face with his hands as he looked her over.
"Nothing's gonna happen to me, Tay. I promise you." she looked up at him and then allowed him to pull her into a hug. "I'm not gonna leave you so you're stuck with me." he whispered softly into her hair.
"Just be careful, Troy." she mumbled into his chest, he pulled back and looked at her and nodded his head.
"I will, I'll be careful alright." he said softly. "Now let's get back home, I think my mom cooked up a storm tonight." Troy said as he rubbed his stomach with his free hand, while Taylor sent him a little look.
"What makes you say that?"
"Well when she's about to really cook, she wipes down the counters which is exactly what she was doing before we left." he stated with a knowing smile on his face. "I just hope she baked a cake too."
"My goodness you're hungry."
"I'm growing boy-man. . .um you know what I'm saying." he stated with a smile as he looked at her. Taylor just smiled and nodded her head as they continued to walk. For a few minutes they were silently simply enjoying one another's company.
"So what did Mark say to you after the game?"
"You saw that?"
"I'm not Ray Charles, Troy. I do have my eye-sight and it's perfect." she said with a shake of her head as Troy tossed back his head and laughed a loud at that. "So what did he say to you, it wasn't anything mean was it." Troy just shook his head but stopped once Taylor nudged him in the side.
"It wasn't anything bad, Tay. He just apologized about for what he said earlier and he told me welcome back and that if I played like that during the season that we'd win state." he stated proudly as he looked at her.
"Good, I guess but he better not hit you like that again."
"My hero and what will you do if he does?" Troy asked as he looked at her before grunting as she elbowed him in the side. "Just playing but seriously what will you do?"
"Kick him in the knee cause I don't think I can reach anything else." she stated seriously but I'm sure once I do that he won't mess with you again." Troy smiled at that and nodded his head as he pictured Mark holding his leg after his petite girlfriend kicked him in the shin. Leaning over he kissed her on the cheek with a bright smile on his face. "Well thank you for defending me baby now if only you could do that when my cruel mother tries to separate us." Taylor released a delicate snort at that and shook her head.
"You mess with her every chance you get."
"No I doubt what I'm doing is enjoying my time with my lovely girlfriend and she comes in and separates us. "
"Cause you're doing things like um-making me help you exercise." Troy laughed then and shook his head at her statement.
"I thought you enjoyed yourself."
"Oh I did." Taylor stated with a blush as she looked over at him and she really did enjoy herself during that little exercise workout. That whole thing was incredibly sexy and if Mrs. Bolton hadn't come when she did, she was sure her and Troy would have gone much further than that if Mrs. Bolton hadn't come by and checked on them. "But that doesn't mean that you can continue to mess with your mother." Troy grunted out something and then sighed.
"Fine I'll try to tone it done besides I'm pretty sure if we keep things going like they are, my mother will probably lose her mind and I'll have to sleep outside cause there's no way that she'll make you stay outside." Taylor smiled at that and grinned at his statement, leaning in closer to Troy she looked up at him and said.
"That's cause she loves me."