I don't own anything.

A/N: Alright I know I'm about to start posting so first off I want to thank my reviewers from last time; chaylorXtraylorlover, ilovefics, PerfectLover, LunaSolTierra and MermaidRam85. I hope everyone enjoys this new chapter and please Review.

Baby S

Chapter Seventeen

That night after Troy's first driving session, Taylor discovered that she really couldn't sleep. It was too difficult, especially since her mind was constantly racing with thoughts and images of Troy getting hurt in a car accident. To put it as plainly as possible, she was worried about him. Tucking her pillow beneath her head, she saw at the wall in the darkness of her bedroom and tried to pull her mind away from the fear that starting to suffocate her. After a few more minutes of just resting on her bed, she kicked off her covers and crawled out of her bed. She quickly made her way out of her room and down the hall towards Troy's room. She paused outside his room for only a brief moment before pushing open the door. Slipping inside, she made her way over to Troy's bedside and looked him over. As soon as she decided that he was alright and that she might be able to rest easy, Troy opened his eyes and looked up at her. "Taylor?" he asked in confusion as he reached out and turned on his nightstand light. He blinked several times as his eyes adjusted to the light and then focused on Taylor who just stood at his bedside looking down at him. "This is quite a surprise. . .I never expected to find you sneaking into my room." he said with a soft chuckle as he looked up at her.

"I was just coming to check on you." she whispered softly as she looked down at him. Troy nodded his head, he knew why Taylor was here. She might have grown distance over the last few days but he knew his girl. Taylor was nervous about him driving, even after yesterday's successful driving lesson she still had looked nervous. He reached out for her hand and pulled her down on the bed so she was sitting on the edge. "I just needed to make sure you're okay." she stated softly as she placed her hand on his shoulder. Troy smiled and gave her a brief nod.

"I know you were worried, Taylor. I know this driving thing isn't what you want me to do but I really want too and nothing is going to happen to me."

"You can't promise me that," Taylor whispered with a shake of her head as she looked him. "You really can't promise me that and I. . .I won' be able to take it if you don't uphold that promise." Troy watched as she struggled to express herself to him. Taylor licked her lips slowly and looked down at her lap while Troy just watched her.

"Let me just figure this all out, you were worried so you couldn't sleep," he asked gently as he looked up at her. Taylor just nodded her head for a moment before whispering a request that Troy had been positive he wouldn't have heard until they were either Juniors or Seniors. "Excuse me?" he asked in surprise and he was sure it showed all over his face. Taylor's looked away from him for a moment before answering.

"Can I stay in here with you?" Troy didn't really response instead he moved over and held up his covers. He gave Taylor a small smile as she quickly scrambled into the bed and snuggled into his side, Troy draped his arm around her and pulled her close as Taylor laid her head on his chest.

"You don't drool do you?" he asked playfully trying to lighten up the mood. Taylor pushed herself up a bit so she could look him in the face. At the look on her face, he could only smile and tilt his head back and chuckle. "Oh don't give me that look." he said laughing a little as she lightly smack him on the chest.

"You are so bad." she whispered as she snuggled back into his arms. Troy just smiled at that and nodded his head.

"I guess I'm gonna have to agree with you about that cause once my mother realizes what happens she's gonna blame me for this little midnight meeting. Not that I care mind you," he murmured softly. "Cause I got to spend the whole night with you in my arms." Taylor smiled at his words and nodded her head.

"You won't have to worry about your mother cause I'm gonna take full blame for this after all I'm not as innocent as I look." she said with a wink as she looked over at him. Troy chuckled then and pulled her towards him.

"Oh I know that." he said with a small smile as he gave her a look. "That's one of the reasons I love you so much." he said then paused and closed his eyes. He hadn't really meant to let that slip, Taylor lifted her head off his chest yet again and gave him a look. Troy slowly met her gaze and Taylor smiled and tapped her fingers on his chest.

"Funny, I love you too. Who would have imagined?" she drawled out playfully. Troy relaxed and circled his arms around her waist. He looked over at the nightstand and saw that it was slowly approaching one-thirty.

"I'm gonna be so tired in the morning." he murmured softly as he looked up into her eyes. "But I think tonight is making it worthwhile."

"And it should." she said with a bright smile as she looked up at him. "Cause it was totally worth it to me." Troy nodded his head and laid his head back on his pillow and closed his eyes. He carefully reached out and turned off the lamp and plunged the room into darkness. They both laid there silently for a moment before Troy spoke up again. "I know you told me not to make promises I couldn't keep but I promise you that nothing is gonna happen to me."

"I just worry about you. . .I don't know what'd I do if I lost you." Taylor whispered back as she snuggled deeper into his embrace. "I guess I just don't want you taking chances."

"But that's all life is baby. . .chances."

"I know. . .I'm sorry if I haven't been supporting you like I should, I was just worried." Taylor whispered softly. Troy just gave her body a tight squeeze and kissed the top of her head.

"I know that's why you were distanced, Tay. But you're gonna have to help me understand just where you think you haven't been supporting me. . .you came up with the idea for my basketball court outside." he whispered softly. "I still remember when my Dad had that put in. It was like two days after I told him I wanted to play basketball. He went out and found someone to come in and put the court in the backyard." Troy chuckled slightly at the memory. "He was so excited about me following in his footsteps and playing basketball. You know sometimes when I'm out there before you and mom gave me by birthday present I felt weird being out there without him and you gave me that." he whispered softly. "You supported me when I told you I wanted to play basketball again. "You did all of that. . .and I know I couldn't have made it through my father's passing without you. You've supported me since the first day we met and then of course along the way-."

"I fell in love with you." she whispered finishing his statement. Troy smiled in the darkness at her words glad to hear her saying the words yet again.

"And I fell in love with you too." he whispered, "And you loving me and me loving you. . .well that's all the support I need."

They were awakened the next morning by a loud gasp, Troy opened his eyes and saw his mother standing in the doorway looking in on them in complete shock while holding onto the threshold as if her legs would give out at any moment. Troy felt Taylor stir in his arms but she didn't wake up. "Good morning, Mom. . .how are you doing?" Lillian Bolton looked at her son and then at Taylor and just shook her head. She should have known it would be difficult to keep them away from one another and she knew this time around that Taylor had made her way to Troy's room.

"Troy. . .I'm gonna go downstairs and get breakfast started," she paused and looked them over again before sighing. "I'm going to go ahead and assumed for my mind's sake that you and her only slept in here."

"No worries, mom. She was just worried about me." he said with a smirk as his mother just rolled her eyes and shook her head at the both of them. "She came in here to check on me," he paused and looked down at Taylor and brushed a hand over her hair. "I think she had a nightmare about something happening to me. I wasn't going to turn her away not when she was feeling like that." Lillian just nodded her head as she listened to her son.

"I believe you. . .just make sure you wake her up so she can get ready for school already. I'm a bit to surprise to be dealing with this." Troy just grinned as his mother walked away. Shaking his head, he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck.

"She's like two seconds away from banishing me to the apartment above the garage." he said shaking his head as he thought about what his mother must be downstairs thinking. Rubbing a hand over Bonnie's shoulder, he gently shook her awake. "Baby. . .Tay, it's time to get up baby." he murmured as he gave her a few more shakes. After a few minutes, Taylor groaned and lifted her head up and looked at him. Troy smiled down at her as she graced him with a new morning smile.

"Good morning."

"My mom said it's time for us to get up and get ready for school." he said calmly as he watched Taylor to see her reaction and he wasn't disappointed. Taylor gasped and covered her mouth in absolute surprise as she looked at him.

"Oh my God! Your mother saw!"

"And she was surprised but she just shook it off and went downstairs. Told me to wake you up so you can get dressed you know you don't want to be late for school." Taylor buried her face in her hands as Troy sat beside her silently chuckling. He didn't understand why she was so upset, all she did was sleep in the bed with him. It's not like they did anything fantastic. He smirked at his choice of words and was immediately hit by Taylor. "What did I do?"

"You had that devilish grin on your face. . .you were thinking naughty thoughts."

"Well when it comes to you. . .I mostly think nothing but naughty thoughts. . .it's a fault of mine I don't think I'm gonna be changing anytime soon." he said as he got out of bed and took off his night shirt. He caught Taylor eyeballing his well-sculpted chest and chuckled. "And judging by the look on your face you seem to have naughty thoughts about me as well."

"You need to stop picking on me, Troy." she said over a laugh while Troy just flexed and starting popping his chest. Taylor's eyes jumped at what he was doing and Troy could only laugh at her expression.

"That's right baby look at the muscle control."

"I'm leaving now." Taylor said with a laugh as she climbed off his bed and quickly exited the room. Troy just looked after her and yelled out.

"Remember I have a game this afternoon. . .it's the season opener." he shouted out after her. Taylor's voice almost immediately called back.

"Of course I didn't forget. . .I have a special outfit all picked out for the occasion." Troy's interest grew at that statement. "And no you can't see it until the game." Taylor yelled out as if reading his mind. Frowning, he playfully kicked his foot at the ground as he headed towards his bathroom.

"It's not like it's my birthday or something . . she can show me the surprise now." he pouted as he started getting ready for school. Nearly an hour later, both of them were downstairs at the kitchen table ready for breakfast. Lillian watched them silently before giving them a quick warning.

"It seems that I'm gonna have to keep an eye on the both you," she said as she fixed Taylor with a look and didn't stop until the young girl looked away from her. "I know you two love being around each other and that your connection is a little bit more serious than other teenagers, but seriously you two I'm gonna have to ask you two be a responsible if you're going to have slumber parties that I don't know about." Troy blushed as his mother continued talking, shaking his head, he looked over at Taylor and saw that she was uncomfortable as well.

"I'm sorry Ms. Lillian." Taylor said softly as she looked at Troy's mother. "I was just. . .I was just worried about Troy and I wanted to see him and make sure that he was okay."

"I know. . .Troy told me you had a nightmare." Lillian said gently. "I'm not angry, I'm just telling you two to be careful and responsible. I can't police you two all the time it's just not possible so I'm just gonna have to trust the two of you to do the responsible thing."

"Don't worry Mom, I promise you don't have to worry about that." Lillian gave her a son a bright smile and then looked down at the table. She had certainly prepared a big meal.

"Good, I'm glad we're done with that conversation. . .now how about you two dig in cause I think I overdid it." Taylor chuckled at that and shook her head as she looked over at Troy who was licking his chops like the big bad wolf.

"I don't think you have to worry about that, Ms. Lillian. Troy looks like he can eat this entire meal by himself." Troy shot her a look and then picked up four pancakes and pilled them onto his plate.

"I'm a growing teenage boy, Tay. I need my food." he said before almost drowning his pancakes in syrup. He gave her a defiant look before digging in while she and his mother just laughed as he wolfed down his food. It was nearly time for Wilson to come by to pick them up to take them to school, Taylor walked over to Troy's side and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"So are you driving to school?"

"Yeah. . .me and Wilson talked about it briefly last night once we came by from the lesson. He says it's pretty much a straight shot so I should be fine." Taylor nodded her head and reached down for his hand.

"I wanna but up front with you." Troy's eyebrows almost hit his hairline as he turned to look at her in surprise.

"Are you serious?"

"Wilson will still be in the car right," she asked, Troy just nodded his head as he looked at her. "And I trust you. . .so yes, I'm serious. I want to ride in the passenger seat. Troy pulled her close and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Well alright then. . .I promise you won't regret this decision." he said with a bright smile as he looked down at her. Taylor looked back up at him and nodded her head, just as they heard Wilson pulling up outside the house.

"I know." she stated simply. "I trust you Troy, now let's go cause I really don't want to be late. I have a presentation to do with Sharpay and you know I need to be there to make sure she has her mind on the right thing." Troy grinned at that as he thought about Taylor's blonde-headed friend. The girl was certainly something else.

"Alright then I guess we better head on out," he turned and looked at his mother. "Well I guess I'll be seeing you tonight mom. . . .," he paused and looked back at Taylor. "Oh Mom by the way do you have any idea what Taylor's little surprise is suppose to be tonight." Lillian just shrugged her shoulders at her son and sent Taylor a wink. "Oh see now that is just wrong. Do you two ever feel bad about gaining up on me like this?"

"Nope." His mother and Taylor said in unison. "But if it's any consolation. . .you are gonna love this surprise I just know it." Taylor said as she pressed a quick kiss to his mouth and tugged him towards the door. "Come on show me what you got behind the wheel." Troy smiled at her excitement and allowed her to drag him outside to meet Wilson.