Troy took her hand, and walked out of the janitor's closet, leaving the school. They walked around Central Park, bought some hotdogs and sodas, and settled under a shaded area with a great view of the pond. They talked and talked.

Troy stroke Gabriella's hair and took her hand. Gabriella smiled at him as she stroke his cheek.

"Can I show you something?" Troy asked her.

Gabriella nodded.

"Alright, it's at my house. I'll show you it. Come on." He said, taking her hand and hailing a cab. But as he opened the door to the penthouse, he got a huge surprise. It was his older sister, Jackie, sitting on the couch, smirking once he she saw him.

"Surprise, baby brother." She said, walking up to him and gave him a hug. Troy was too shock to hug her back.

Jackie pulled him away and eyed Gabriella. "And who is this petty girl?"

"That's Gabriella, my BFF. Remember I told you about her and I'm pretty sure Troy has mentioned her, too." Sharpay said, giving Jackie a hug and then hugging Gabriella next.

"Oh! So this is the great goddess Gabriella, Troy's been talking about nonstop. It's great you meet you." Jackie said, shaking Gabriella's hand, with a friendly smile.

"You, too. Troy told me about you." Gabriella said, with a warm smile.

"Really, well my brother certainly has mentioned you quite a lot. He really talks a lot about you, absolutely nonstop." Jackie said, smiling friendly at Gabriella and smirking at Troy, who gave her a death glare. I really must give him some credit, this Gabriella girl is really pretty and seems nice, she thought.

Troy clenched his teeth and fists tightly, fighting every urge to punch Jackie. He smiles a fake smile at her and said "Jackie, so glad that you here- how long are you going to be here?"

"For the weekend. And I, for one, am so glad that she is. This weekend is going to be fabulous. My best friend is staying over for the weekend-by the way Gabi, Missy drop off your night bag," Sharpay told her "And my favorite cousin is staying over. I have a date with Zeke tomorrow night-but wait I don't' have anything to wear." Sharpay said, panicking.

They all looked at her with their eyebrows raised.

"Shar, you're kidding right? You have a gigantic closet, that's bigger than my room and is as big as store, that's packed with tons of clothes." Ryan said.

She signed exhaustedly and said "I've already wore all of these clothes twice. I need the perfect outfit. We so have to shop. Are you guys in?"

"In a little while, Shar. But I really need to talk to Gabriella-now." Troy said, taking Gabriella's hand, and taking her to his room. He locked the door and signed relief that they were finally alone. He looked at Gabriella, who sat on his bed, smiling at him.

"So what do you want to show me?" She asked him.

Troy gulped nervously as he grabbed his sketch book and sat down next to her on the bed. "I want you to see a special sketch I did." He mumbled. Troy pulled Gabriella closer to him so she'd be able to better, opened the book, and flipped the page to the angel sketch he did of her and the poem next to it. He watched her closely as she looked at the sketch, seeing amazement in her eyes, and read the poem, with the amazement growing more in her eyes, and a little moisture in them. "Do you like them?" Troy asked her, nervously.

Gabriella was just speechless for a moment. The sketch Troy did of her was just amazing and simply incredible. And the poem was just heartfelt and touching. She was just touched. She could feel moisture in her eyes, but luckily no tears fell. Gabriella turned to Troy, with a straight face, and said in a serious tone "I don't like them."

Troy was shock, his hopeful smile fading, feeling hurt and heartache. "Oh." He whispered, with his head down.

Gabriella lifted his chin up so he would look at her. A huge grin grew on her face. "I love them." She said.

Troy's face grew a huge grin. He pulled Gabriella into a hug and held her as he rocked them back and forth. Troy looked down at Gabriella, whose eyes were closed, but was smiling. God she is so beautiful, he thought, caressing her cheek. He just loves everything about her. Her cute nose, her pretty cheekbones, her big beautiful eyes, her sleek hair, her beautiful face, her perfect body, her perfect personality-Troy realized two things. 1. If he didn't stop thinking about what he loves about her then he would go on and on and on. And 2). He just loves her.

Troy's eyes popped wide once he thought about what he was thinking. Love? He questioned himself. I love Gabriella? He looked at her and stroking her hair, thinking about it. Do I love her? He thought. Troy though about all the possibilities.

"Think about it," said a voice inside his head. "That feeling you had when you first met her? That spark that went through your body as you shook hands with her the first time you met. Sure it may have started out as a crush, but it grew into something more then just a crush, much more. Think about it. You had a few crushes in your life. Have you ever felt that same way about them as you do for Gabriella?"

Troy shook his head no.

"How would you feel if Bass tries to get close to her? Or some other guy trying to use her?"

I'll kill him, he thought.

"Exactly, now pop-quiz. Have you ever felt so relax and calm with someone else besides Gabriella?"

Troy shook his head no.

"That feeling you had when you kissed her, did you ever had that feeling before when you when you kissed someone else?"

Troy shook his head no. Sure Troy has kissed a few girls, but it never had that amazing and special feeling he felt when he kissed Gabriella.

"Every time she's near you, do you feel butterflies in your stomach? Feel an electric glow? Still feel millions of sparks flying? Feel like she suddenly has control over you?"

Troy nodded yes to all four.

"Another question, if something ever happens to her, then what would you do?"

Then I'll just kill myself, Troy thought, looking down at Gabriella and kissed her cheek, stroking her sleek hair. I just can't see myself living without her. I care about her too much. She's my angel.

"Face the facts, Bolton, you've fallen for her. You love Gabriella."

Yeah, Troy thought, nodding his head. I do love her. He grinned, realizing that he should have figured that out earlier, stroking Gabriella's hair and then her cheek. He's so in love with her. Always have been since the day he met her. But now he wondered what he and Gabriella were. They've kissed and it was the most amazing kiss ever, more amazing then he had ever dreamed. But does that mean that they're together? That they're a couple? Or are they just friends with benefits?

Troy frowned, thinking about the 2nd part. He didn't want to be just friend with benefits with Gabriella. He wants a relationship with her. "Then ask her out, dumb-ass!" said the voice in his head. Troy nodded and looked down at Gabriella. Seeing her perfection made him feel so nervous and his throat bone-dry. You can do this, he thought.

Troy lightly shook Gabriella and she opened her eyes. She smiled dazzlingly at him "Hey." She said.

"Hey," He said, with his voice cracking. He gulped nervously and took a deep breath. "Hey Gabriella?"

"Yes?" She said, sitting up.

"Would you maybe…you know…" Troy said "Would you…" He took a deep breath. "Will you go out with me tomorrow night?"

There he said it! He watched Gabriella closely, watching her reaction. Gabriella was still for a few moments, slowly taking in hat he just asked her, until her lips curved up into a huge grin.

"Yes! Troy, I would love to!" She said.

Troy grinned the biggest grin he ever did. He felt so relieved and glad. Troy got off his bed, grabbed Gabriella, and carried her in his arms, and spun her around and around, feeling so happy that he could die of happiness.

"YES!!!" said Sharpay, Ryan, and Jackie as they burst open the door.

Troy gently put Gabriella down and turned to them, frowning. "Were you guys listening in on our private conversation?" He asked.

They looked at one another, knowing their answer would piss him off. But turned back to him and said in unison "Maybe."

Jackie gave Troy one of her bone-crushing hugs. "Finally! It took you long enough!" She squealed, nearly crushing Troy.

Sharpay hugged Gabriella, tightly, and then Troy. "Oh, this is too fabulous! Now we really need to go to shopping! Come on!" She said, grabbing their wrists and rushing out the door before they even had a chance to say something, with Jackie and Ryan following behind her.

Because of Troy and Gabriella's date tomorrow night, Ryan's dates with Kelsi tonight and tomorrow night, Jackie's plans to hit the clubs this weekend to meet new people from the city, mostly guys, and her date with Zeke, Sharpay decided that they all need new clothes and to go to every store they can.

They went to practically every single store in New York City and somehow bought more stuff than they intended. Troy groaned as he flopped on the bench in Old Navy, feeling like he just finished a 1,000 mile walk-a-thon. Gabriella sat down with him, already done with her shopping, and lightly punched him on the arm.

Troy yawned as he laid his head on Gabriella's lap. "How many stores have we been to?" He said, exhausted.

"So far 34, also counting the boutiques we stopped at," Gabriella answered, stroking his hair. "Shopping's hard work, but someone has to do it, champ."

"I guess now I know," Troy said, looking up at her. "The only reason I'm going along with this is because of our…you know…date. You're going to look beautiful as always, so I want to make sure I look right."

Gabriella stroke all the way down from his hair to his cheek and pecked it. "You're going to look cute and adorable. You always do." She said.

Troy smiled at her and kissed the palm of her hand.

Hidden behind racks of jeans and tops, Sharpay took a peek at them and beamed at their adorable cuteness. She could tell other people, who looked at them, thought that they were a cute couple. And she had to agree with them that Troy and Gabriella make a really cute couple. Of course she was still beyond pissed at Troy for what he did, but she still wanted them to be a couple.

Finally they finished their shopping and got back home with lots of shopping bags. Troy felt exhausted and too sore. The first thing he did was take a nap. The nap lasted longer than he expected, because by the time he woke up it was already past midnight.

Shit, he thought. Who knew shopping could take a lot of energy out of you? He stretched out his sore muscles and walked into the kitchen to get a snack. As Troy walked past Sharpay's room, he saw the guest bedroom's door was open a bit. Curious, he took a peek inside and saw Gabriella sleeping peacefully in the bed. Unable to resist, he went inside and sat by her side.

She looked too adorable sleeping, he simply couldn't resist. She was even smiling in her sleep.

Gabriella, a little awake, turn to her left side to Troy, grabbed his hand and traced his fingers, and nuzzled into his palm. She signed, happily. She opened her eyes a bit, half awake, and smiled up at him. "Come sleep with me." She muttered.

Unable to resist her, Troy peeled off his shirt, crawled into the guestroom bed, and wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled into her neck.

"Sweet dreams, Troy." She murmured with a smile, already falling asleep.

"Sweet dreams, Gabi." Troy said, with a grin, falling asleep…

The following morning, Jackie woke up in the other guestroom, wearing a mud facial mask, and got out of bed. She went to Troy's room to wake the lazy ass up, but saw he wasn't there. Where the hell is that ass? She wondered. She went to Sharpay's room and woke her up.

Sharpay groaned, feeling cranky from being disturbed from her sleep. "What is it? What time is it?" She whined.

"First, it's past 10:30 in the morning. And second, I went to Troy's room but he isn't there. Do you know where he is?" Jackie said.

Sharpay thought for a moment until it hit her. Of course! She thought. "Well isn't it obvious?" She asked a very clueless Jackie.

Jackie remained completely blank until the answer finally hit her. "Oh!" She said.

"Exactly!" Sharpay said, and grabbed her camera. "Come on, we have to see this."

She and Jackie tiptoed to the guestroom, opened the door a crack, and let 'awws' seeing a sleepy Troy sleeping with Gabriella, looking too adorable together. Troy moved around a little, opened his eyes a tiny-bit, and looked at Gabriella, lovingly. With a grin on his face, he kissed her cheek, kissed her neck and nuzzled into it, and fell back asleep. The girls awed again. It was too cute.

"Shar, take a picture of this." Jackie whispered.

"Good idea," She whispered, walking closer to them to get a good shoot, and took a few pictures. "This is so going to be on their Christmas card."

One of the flashes stunned Troy's eyes and woke him up. He sat up, still holding Gabriella, and was trying to figure what the hell was going on. Troy glared at his sister and cousin, once he realized it, and shot them death glares.

"YOU TWO ARE DEAD BICTHES!!!!!!!" He mouthed to them, literally screaming.

The girls fled before he got up. Damn them, he thought, and then looked down at Gabriella. She placed a kiss on his chest and nuzzled into it. And then opened her eyes. She looked up at him and said "Morning."

"Morning." He said, grinning at her. Soon tonight at 7: 00 it will be their date and he could hardly wait. It was going to be perfect.

(A/N: First off, thanks for the reviews! You guys rock! I'm starting to feel like a real author! Anyway, what do you think of chapter 9 of excitement? Do you think that Troy and Gabriella are now finally a couple or just friends with benefits? What do you think? What do you think will happen on their date? Well I can say for sure is that it's going to be romantic! I'll upload a few more stories this weekend like 2 or 3, mabye 4 if I'm lucky and have enough time. Keep on reading excitement! Peace :D