Hi again everyone…I just want to say a big thank you to those people who have stuck with this story despite my slow update rate, you guys keep me going!!! Also thanks for sharing your thoughts and sending me the love, reviews mean everything to me….so thanx again people!!!! I was thinking about changing the rating of this to an M for later chapters but was wondering what you guys think about it…If you have an opinion either way let me know and we'll just see what happens…Love Tink. XX


A little over an hour later Gabriella strolled casually into the terminal building watching Troy walk ahead of her, into the path of the waiting paparazzi. Her heart in her mouth she watched as Troy was lost in the frenzy of flashbulbs and a cacophony of cries " Troy, look here, Troy can you comment on the rumor you have a new co star, Troy what can you tell us about your relationship with Sharpay, Troy is it true you and Sharpay were caught having sex in a hotel pool last week"

The journalists followed him closely as he went, cameras thrust close in his face. Gabriella was horrified at what she was seeing, but even more horrified by some of the comments and questions shouted at him in the throng. His face was set, taut yet carefully devoid of any emotion as he ignored the seething mass around him. It seemed so disrespectful for complete strangers to be talking close up pictures, to be asking questions about his sex life, that Gabriella felt nauseous. As a fan she had always loved to see candid shots of Troy, little snippets of his life but now as she saw the way some of them were obtained and the complete lack of privacy and respect shown to him by some of the photographers she felt ashamed of herself. Was this what would happen to her? She wondered, was this her future?

She followed behind him, careful to keep her distance as warned; she contemplated what she was witnessing. She was furious on Troy's behalf that he was being treated so appallingly but he seemed to be taking it all in his stride. What worried her more than anything was the fact this seemed entirely normal to him and that one-day this would seem normal and acceptable to her too.

As Troy reached the exit of the building he noticed the waiting black Lexus and he turned slightly, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Gabriella was still nearby. One look at her pale face made him concerned, she looked tired, drawn, close to tears and worried. She was worried for him, he realized with a little start. Being used to the press and their intrusions he sometimes forgot the impact they could have on the unwary. Troy found it unusual that she would be more concerned for him than for herself, maybe it was just in her nature to be protective. He wanted to laugh at the idea he would need protecting. Instead he smiled slightly, trying to reassure her that it was okay, and felt a little better when she responded with a strained and wobbly smile of her own. It was a split second glance that no one should have seen but unfortunately for them, one of the more savvy paps had caught the little look between the two and immediately turned his lenses on her, snapping enthusiastically. Troy almost froze, unsure what to do, wondering if he should try and call the attention back on himself. By doing that it would almost certainly draw attention to the fact he was trying to divert their attention. He was saved from making a decision as Mac one of his bodyguards stepped from the car and pushed past Troy, to get to Gabriella. With this, the rest of the press pack moved to swarm around Gabriella, all pointing their cameras at her, sensing a story.

Troy saw the smile vanish from her face and she looked stricken, confused, scared, like the child he had first met at the audition. He wanted to go to her to reassure her but knew in doing so he would only cause rumor and unwanted speculation. He stepped out of the door and into the waiting car, in a mere second, knowing she would safe with Mac. Why did he feel as though he was abandoning her, when all he was doing was trying to shield her? He settled against the leather with a sigh and watched from behind his dark glasses, waiting for Gabriella to join him as the engine purred into life.

Gabriella stared blankly ahead, moving towards the car, feeling the journalists around her pushing and shoving, aware of a hand at her elbow guiding her preventing anyone from getting too close.

"Say nothing" a voice hissed in her ear, though not unkindly.

She nodded, her heart racing as the intense scrutiny she'd witnessed now turned on her. She blinked rapidly, blinded by the glare of several flashbulbs, sensing rather than seeing Harry leading her to the Lexus. She got the open door, and climbed inside, one or two of the more ambitious photographers actually pointing their cameras into the car door for a few seconds, until at last it was closed, the dark tint on the windows offering some modicum of protection.

"You okay?" he asked from beside her, removing his glasses to look at her.

She nodded shakily, pressing her hands together to stop their trembling "I think so…is it always like that?"

He shrugged casually "sometimes…well you're out now"

"What do you mean?" she asked as the car pulled smoothly away from the curb.

"They've seen you…and with me…they'll want to know who you are" he said simply "I expect we'll be having a press junket sooner rather than later, they have kinda forced Zefron's hand"

"Do you ever get used to that?" she asked tremulously, feeling tired and over emotional

"Comes with the territory" he replied, sounding tired and Gabriella looked at him, for the first time noticing the strain on his handsome face.

"Well it shouldn't, just because you're you shouldn't give them the right to treat you like that, to say those horrible things"

"Like I said, it comes with the job" he sounded bitter this time.

Gabriella gnawed her bottom lip "I don't know how you handle it"

"You just do, you can and you will," he snapped roughly, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands.

Gabriella felt the tension in him, he seemed pissed, but she got the feeling it wasn't at her, yet he still seemed distant, the pleasant, gentle guy from the plane was gone, in his place a cold brooding stranger. She sat back against the cool leather of the seat and closed her eyes, trying to relax to subtle trembling of her body.

Beside her Troy fumed silently, he hadn't meant to expose her to the press but because he had been stupid enough to look for her, they'd spotted her. Now the speculation would start and he was convinced by morning she would be his latest in a long line of non-existent girlfriends. He was angry at himself, angry that he'd already exposed her to the seedier side of the business. She seemed to good, to nice, too innocent to be used by the tabloids in a ratings war, yet it would happen all thanks to him.

He jumped a little when he felt something touch his shoulder and he turned to look, surprised to see a now sleeping Gabriella resting against him.

Her face was relaxed and even more beautiful in sleep and he stared at her for a few minutes unable to help himself. He fought the urge to stroke her cheek, to count the freckles on her nose, to feel the delicate butterfly wings of her eyelashes against his fingers. His arm began to feel numb and he flexed it gently, subtly, trying not to disturb her. He looked down at her and tucked a stray midnight curl behind her ear, allowing his finger to softly tease the skin of her cheek, wondering what he was going to do about her. In the very short time he had known her she had gotten under his skin, maybe it was something to do with her innocence, her innate goodness, the fact that as yet she was untouched by this crazy business, or maybe it was simply the fact she was gorgeous. Whatever the reason having her curled this close to him was playing havoc with his hormones. She was sprawled against him, one leg curled beneath her causing dress to hike up, her olive toned knees peeking at him, flashing him a glimpse of soft slender thigh. He stared at her for long moments, knowing it was wrong, so wrong, yet unable to help himself. His hands burned with the need to touch her, he was overcome by the urge to stroke her soft skin, to slide his hands up her legs.

Her hot, sweet breath tickled his throat as she sighed in her sleep, her nose bumping just below the hard line of his jaw, the softness of her curls tickling his cheek, one firm, plump breast poking into his rib. He inhaled deeply, the scent of strawberries and freesias assailing him. Never had he smelt anything so sweet, so tempting.

Something hot and heavy twisted loose, stirring inside him and he fought the urge to pull her onto his lap, to hold her close, to cuddle her, to kiss her, to touch her. The thought of giving into his body's urges was having a very pronounced affect on said body, making blood pool hotly in his groin and tightening his pants uncomfortably. He shifted trying to release some of the tension he felt and inadvertently woke Gabriella who began to stir. She stretched and yawned for a second, still dozy not quite awake, snuggling against him with a soft moan, which went right to his groin. Troy looked down, amusement written in his blue eyes and watched for the second she came fully awake…3….2…1

Gabriella sat bolt upright in the seat, her whiskey colored eyes popping open as she became awake almost instantly she saw Troy looking down at her.

"Oh my God, I'm so, so sorry" she gushed, leaning away from him, wiping her mouth and eyeing his shirt for tell tale signs of drool.

"It's okay" he smiled, a real smile, not a "Troy Bolton" smile and Gabriella suddenly became aware that there was a difference. His publicity smile was hot but his real smile, well if she had not been sitting down it would have knocked her on her ass, his eyes lit up, crinkling in the corners.

"Really though I am so, so sorry" she apologized again and he shrugged.

"I cant' believe I just did that and on you" she squeaked

"Gabriella" his tone held a warning "We've been through this remember, I'm just an ordinary guy. I put my pants on one leg at a time just like everyone else"

Gabriella gulped at the thought of Troy putting on or taking off his pants but was prevented from commenting as the driver announced they had arrived at the hotel. Troy stepped from the car and Gabriella followed quickly behind him, pleased to see that no one even looked at them sideways as they checked in and were shown to their respective suites.

As she stepped inside she took stock of what had happened so far, she had shared the last few hours with Troy and felt as though she was getting to know him. Apart from the embarrassing crush conversation she felt things had gone well but now she was alone, she suddenly felt as though she had made a terrible mistake. She wanted her mom and she wanted to go home. She wasn't ready to do this? What if she couldn't do it? What if they all laughed at her? Tears began to fall as all the doubts she had tried to force to one side over the last few days came rushing to the surface. The phone rang, and Gabriella picked it up hesitantly

"Hello?" she sniffled.

Troy could hear the tears in her voice and knew she was crying again, he didn't think he had ever met a female who cried as much as she did.

"Brie? It's me," he said laughing softly at the unintentional rhyme.

"Oh hey"

"I was just calling to see if you're settling in okay?" he asked not mentioning the fact he was a little worried about her, her first night all alone in the big bad grown up world. She seemed so emotionally fragile right now.

"I guess"

"Want me to come along?" he offered, hoping he sounded casual.

"No I'll be okay, you must be exhausted" she protested half heartedly

"I'll be fine"

"Well I was just going to have a shower," she said softly and Troy hid a groan at the mental pictures her words evoked. He was about to revoke his offer when she spoke again, shyly hesitantly

"Can you give me ten minutes?"

He wanted to say no, knew he should have but instead he heard himself mutter "Sure".

He argued with himself all the way down to her room, he shouldn't be doing this, it wasn't right, especially when he was attracted to her. He told himself he was just being friendly, that he would have done the same for any of the others. Deep down knew it was a lie. Knocking on the door he heard a soft rustling before it swung open.

Gabriella stood there looking soft, uncertain, damp and so cute dressed head to toe in a large white toweling robe. She fidgeted with the belt and looked at him with a shy smile before stepping back to let him in.

"Hi" he said and cleared his throat, trying to avoid looking at her even though she was covered from her neck to her toes. Her hair was still damp, the curls clinging to her face and cheeks; the robe was tightly belted so he could make out the curve of her tiny waist but nothing else.

"Hi" she replied sounding breathless.

He cleared his throat again "So I thought I would run through what's going to happen tomorrow…you'll meet the rest of the guys and then we'll go straight into dance rehearsals…can you dance" he asked as an afterthought.

She nodded shyly "And I know you can"

He ducked his head, surprised by the embarrassment he felt "Well actually this is kinda one of those things that no one really knows except the cast but I'm not a great dancer, I always pick up things at the last minute….so please don't get mad when there is just us left at midnight still trying to get it blocked"

She giggled; secretly thinking it sounded wonderful, alone with Troy "I won't get mad, I promise"

There was a long charged silence as Troy began to broach the subject he'd been dreading, how to bring up their characters romance "So you've read the script and you're okay with everything?"

Gabriella blushed when she caught his meaning "Yeah I've read it, I've practically memorized it" she confessed, not wanting to talk about it.

"Shit, don't do that too soon, there'll be re writes to do"

Gabriella strolled over to the sofa "Well I had to do something this week" she said flopping down and picking up a large cushion. Troy followed her, settling himself beside her. He was content just to watch her from the corner of his eye, to watch as she curled her legs beneath her, fluffed her drying curls. He tried desperately not to think about what she wore under that robe, his body reacting despite himself and he adjusted the cushion he held to hide the effect she was having on him.

"Do you think they'll like me?" she asked softly after a moment

"Who?"

"The others, Chad Danforth, Sharpay Evens and the rest of the cast"

It struck Troy how worried she must be, to be the new girl and a kid at that.

"They'll think you're great, really they're a nice bunch, bit demented though" he said in an effort to make her smile, it worked and she dazzled him.

"I just hate being the new kid"

"It won't last long and if you make it through your first day and Chad has pulled a prank on you, you know your doing okay. Watch out for him he's a trickster"

"I'll remember that, thanks"

There was silence again and without warning she shifted onto her knees to look at him, her head tilting to one side as she studied him.

"You look tired," she said, taking in the signs of fatigue, staring down into his face, their gazes clashing.

"I am," he admitted, looking back into her whiskey colored eyes, unable to look away from their beauty.

"You have an early start, we both do," she murmured, trying and failing to suppress a little shiver of reaction as his gaze dropped to her mouth. Gabriella didn't know what was happening between them, didn't understand the strange heat coiling inside her. She licked her lip, nervously, unconsciously and Troy shifted in his seat, his arousal growing by the second.

"We do" he agreed, his voice husky, yet making no move to leave, as his eyes ate her up.

So looked so young, so beautiful but that was the problem. He forced himself to look away from her and got to his feet in one smooth movement, angling his body so she couldn't see the effect she had on him.

"I'd better go Brie, I'll see you in the morning. The car will be here at seven, breakfast is served from six…Sleep well" he called over his shoulder as he hurried from the room, as though the very hounds of hell were on his heels, leaving behind a very confused Gabriella. Friendly one moment, distant the next. Who knew what went on his head, she mused as she stared after him, a dreamy smile on her lips. Seconds later her smile stretched into a yawn and she realized it was way past her bedtime. Getting to her feet she turned off the lamp and padded into the bedroom, determined to sleep and forget about the nerve-wracking day ahead of her.