A/N: Ummm...HSMandChelseaFCfan sent this to me yesterday and I finished it last night but I wanted her to check it over and she liked it :) I hope you do, too.

Don't own HSM x

Chapter 25

For forty-eight hours straight, Troy and Gabriella had barely left Gabriella's dorm. They'd spent the whole time catching up, not just making love – although it took up most of their time - but talking about everything they'd missed out on in each other's lives since they split. Gabriella had woken up Monday morning ready for class while Troy lay on her bed and watched her change. As she was changing, her phone vibrated on the side and Troy grabbed it being right next to it.

"Who is it?" Gabriella asked, looking back through the mirror at Troy.

Troy rolled his eyes. "Your very scary best friend." He watched as she glared at him before bringing it up to his ear. "Good morning, Shar." Gabriella watched as Troy grinned at whatever her blonde friend was talking about. "Gabi is a little busy right now... Yes, Shar, we're working things out. I'm sure you'll get all the details from Gabi when she's ready to tell you. Anyway, why are you calling? I thought we agreed I would call you guys when I was finished up here." He laughed. "Well tell them to stop being fools and to leave us to it... Don't even think of mentioning that because she doesn't know yet." Troy stood up and walked over to Gabriella, wrapping his one arm around her waist from behind. "Blondie wants to ask you something."

Gabriella took the phone from her boy- wait, fiancé. She smiled inwardly as she looked at the ring sitting on her left ring finger, subconsciously playing with it as she spoke. "Hey, Shar." The brunette closed her eyes in pleasure, Troy placing gentle kisses up and down her whole throat as she tried to focus on what her friend was saying. "Yes, I'm fine. I promise. Troy and I are working through things and who knows what will happen. I gotta go, Shar. I got class. Aren't you supposed to be in one right now too?" Gabriella laughed; the noise a welcoming sound to Troy's ears having missed it these last few weeks. "Bye and Shar, thanks."

"How do you put up with such a nosy best friend?"

Gabriella turned in his arms as her lips joined his, embracing him for a few minutes. "You know she loves us really and only wants us happy. I'm guessing you didn't want her to ask about the proposal."

Troy grinned nodding. "I was thinking we could save it for when we go back home and tell them face to face. I, for some strange reason, want to see your father's reaction when he finally hears and sees his little girl is engaged. I know he gave his permission but I still think he's going to hate it." Troy's fingers looped through the belt loops of her skirt as he pulled her closer so there was no gap between them.

Trying to pull away from the young man in front of her, Gabriella pushed Troy back onto the bed so she could finish getting ready. "Troy, I'm running late as it is thanks to you keeping me in bed ten minutes longer."

He chuckled as she grabbed her cardigan and bag. "Chill, we got time."

"Yeah, but not enough time to deal with you. We'll have to figure out that one again later on tonight but first let's go. We need to see daylight, Troy."

He frowned as she grabbed his hand. "Fine but you better make it worth my while tonight."

Gabriella turned and gave him a suggestive smirk. "I always make it worth your while."

He groaned feeling his male hormones go wild at the vivid image she gave him as he followed behind not seeing the wide grin on her face.

***

Troy did as he promised Gabriella he would, sitting in her class with his arm around her while she scribbled bits down onto a piece of paper. He was practically falling asleep at all the foreign words being used to explain things, now feeling exceptionally dumb at his lack of understanding. The only thing keeping him sane was the occasional hand laid on his knee by his girl when she wasn't writing and the feel of her body so close to his again. He'd missed everything about her from her touch to her smell that he couldn't bear to even miss one second of any little part of her he could get. Placing a chaste kiss to the top of her head, he watched his fiancée turn in surprise.

Gabriella looked around before whispering. "What are you doing?"

"Kissing you. Got a problem?"

She screwed up her nose as she frowned, a trademark that made her all the more adorable to Troy. "Yes. Not in public when others are around in such a close proximity."

The tan boy shook his head. "Fine."

Gabriella smiled and nodded in appreciation, turning her focus back to the lecture they were in. She tried to focus on what was being said but as soon as she was fully turned forward, she couldn't help but be self conscious of the hand that was rested on her thigh under the skirt she wore. Her eyes glanced over once at the white clock on the freshly painted wall noting she only had a few minutes remaining.

As soon as the lecture was over, Gabriella grabbed her bag and led Troy out the room, desperate to spend time alone with him. "You feel like going for some lunch to this small cafe I found?"

Troy shrugged. "Sounds good. You need me to drive?"

She shook her head. "It's within walking distance." Intertwining their fingers, Gabriella smiled at some faces she recognised and headed out the side exit of the campus grounds.

"So is this a place you've visited quite a bit whilst you've been up here?"

"Yeah one of the girls I met here showed me this place after we went out for a few hours. Not many people know of this place apparently; it's quite nice if you want to be alone for a while."

Troy lifted her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles making the girl next to him lift her head at him as his random loving gesture. "I have no idea how I'm going to last a week when you're here and I'm at Berkley. You are bound to have tons of guys after you because you're so beautiful."

Gabriella stopped and moved her free hand to his face to caress his cheek. "Hey, remember we've only just fixed things so I have no intention of letting you go anytime soon or even forever. You need not worry because this ring will certainly put a few people off me."

Troy's eyes closed as he sighed. "I'm being a stupid jealous boyfriend, aren't I?"

Gabriella let out a small giggle. "Yeah you are but I love it when my fiancé gets very jealous."

Troy grinned as she pulled away and dragged him along behind her again, both knowing that as long as they put the effort in and talked to each other about everything, they'd get through hopefully anything that was thrown their way in their relationship.

***

Gabriella was snuggled up to Troy as they sat under a tree having gone for a walk around the surrounding area.

Hearing Gabriella sigh as she leaned back onto his firm chest and pulling his arms tighter around her waist, Troy spoke up. "You ok?"

"I've never been as happy as I am now. I like it when it's just us; no family, no friends, no complications. Out here, everything is just so peaceful."

"I feel the same. We'll just have to make sure we keep this place as our new secret spot." He told her before kissing her bare shoulder. To them, they didn't need to do anything fancy for their day to be perfect, all they needed was each other which is precisely what they had. And to them, it was bliss.

* * *

Gabriella groaned into Troy's bare chest when her cell phone started ringing. "Remind me again why I have to keep my cell phone on?"

After Gabriella's last lecture, they'd gone back to her dorm room to drop her books off and to get Blitzen and Daisy to take them for a walk and to then grab some dinner. They'd sat outside, because of the two dogs, and watched the setting sun. It wasn't long before Troy had got impatient and had started to massage her inner thigh. They'd hurried back to her dorm room and had stumbled through the door, their lips locked in a passionate kiss, before they started practically ripping the clothes from the other's body. They'd only just made it to the bed before they were making love again.

"Because," Troy started as he reached for the vibrating phone, "we both know what your dad is like. He just wants to make sure his princess is okay." He gave the phone to her. "I mean, who knows what we could be getting up to." He smirked down at her.

She rolled her eyes and slid the phone up, holding it to her ear. "Hi, Carl. How are you?"

Troy saw her eyes light up when she heard her twin brother's voice. He slid his arm tighter around her waist and felt the length of her naked body touch the length of his. "Hey Carl," he said into the phone.

Gabriella smiled and snuggled further into Troy's embrace. "Yes, he's here, yes, we're in my dorm room…Carl. Stop it…Please, we're not idiots, I'm not pregnant. I'm saving that for way in the future after college and maybe after medical school."

"And after we're married," Troy put in for good measure.

"Hey Daddy," she whispered and pushed the blanket away, twisting out of Troy's arms. She held the phone between her ear and shoulder as she pulled one of Troy's shirts on and wandered over to the window. "Yeah, I am. I'm looking forward to coming back. I've really missed everybody…Yeah, I miss you, too."

Troy leaned back on her bed and sighed to himself. God, how he loved her. She was so amazing in everything she did. All he honestly wanted was for her to be happy even if he got depressed again. But, he'd seen what had happened to her while they'd been away from each other. He knew it wouldn't happen again and nobody back home was brave enough to break them up again. They were safe. They could finally be together. But, he knew he wasn't the number one guy in her life. He knew he never had been. That would always be Greg.

"Yeah, I will," she whispered and perched herself on the window ledge. "Tell Mama I love her. Everyone else, too…I know, Daddy." She rolled her eyes. "Daddy, I'm eighteen. I'm grown up now, I'm allowed to make love to whoever I want. Don't worry, I'm not pregnant." She laughed quietly to herself and nodded. "Love you, too, Daddy." She slid her phone shut and closed her eyes, breathing out deeply.

Noticing her quietness, Troy climbed out of bed and pulled his boxers on. He walked over to her and perched next to his fiancée, slipping his hand into hers. "You miss him, don't you?"

She nodded. "Yeah. It's weird being away from home. You'll know what it's like when you go to Berkeley. You live your whole life thinking you don't take your parents for granted but, then you move away and you have to feed yourself, clean your place for yourself…" She turned to him. "And do your own laundry."

He raised his eyebrows. "Not going to happen. Why do you think I asked you to marry me?"

She gasped and ran back over to her bed, looking across at him. "What if I don't want to do your laundry?"

He smirked and wandered back over to her, watching as she placed her cell phone on the bedside cabinet. He climbed over her, glancing at her body that was only covered by his shirt and then looked back to her face. "I guess I'll have to punish you."

She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and brought him down for a kiss. "You know," she muttered breathlessly as he moved down to her neck, "my family's going to kill you."

"Hmmm…" He lifted his head. "Why? What have I done now?"

"They know what we're doing. Besides, we're making love so much, they're going to notice how tired I am," she exclaimed.

He smiled down at her and took a shaking hand to stroke her forehead, her cheek and then rested on her neck. "I love you so much." A tear dripped down his cheek. He laughed shakily for a moment. "And all I ever want is to see you smile. Keep that beautiful smile on your face and I know that everything's going to be okay."

"It will," she whispered as a tear leaked from her eye. She ran her hands down his sides and pushed his boxers down. "Make love to me," she whispered.

He chuckled lowly as he tugged his shirt from her petite body. "Like you have to ask. Don't you have homework, Miss Montez?"

"Later," she murmured impatiently. She wrapped her arms back around his neck and pulled him back against her body. "Please," she whimpered helplessly into his ear.

They made love quickly, knowing that Gabriella did, indeed, have homework to complete. Afterward, Gabriella lay breathless, her eyes closed. Troy caught his breath quicker than Gabriella and kissed her forehead. He wrapped one arm around her bare stomach and used his free hand to stroke her forehead. He chuckled when she opened her eyes. "You okay?"

She nodded tiredly. "That's it. No more tonight. I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's okay. I think my hardware would fail if we do it again tonight," he joked.

She smiled up at him. She reached up and stroked his cheek. "I love you."

He kissed her nose softly. "I love you, too."

"You know," she whispered as her fingers began dancing over his face, touching his nose, forehead, cheek and finally his lips, "I look at you sometimes and wonder how you exist."

"You can talk," he murmured.

She giggled weakly. "I guess."

Troy continued to stroke her hair and forehead and tightened his arm around her stomach. "Did you mean what you said to Carl?" he asked quietly.

She frowned and slid her hand down to intertwine her fingers with his that were resting on her stomach. "What did I say to Carl?"

"You want kids?" he asked, his voice cracking.

She blushed gently and looked away. She sighed and nodded. "Yeah." She turned back to him and bit her lip. "I really, truly want to be a mom. Ever since I was a little girl, surrounded by my brothers. I mean, it's not my priority because of college and then I want to marry you."

Troy smiled slightly. "You'll be a great mother, you know. I'd love to be the father of your children."

She glanced down at her stomach. "Our children will be in there one day."

He nodded slowly. "I know." He slowly stroked the skin of her stomach with his thumb. "When you broke up with me, everyone kept asking me if you were pregnant. I mean, I said no. But, it got me thinking. What if you were? What would it be like? Everyone would think it would be a mistake. I wouldn't think like that. To have a baby with you…I'd love it."

Tears rolled down her cheeks and she nodded. "I know."

Troy kissed her gently, feeling everything he was – his personality, his dreams, his future and his past – all flow into that kiss. He pulled back and laughed softly. "You never have to be alone, okay? I won't let that happen."

She gave him a watery smile and nodded. "'Kay."

"And all I really know is that I love you. When you're ready, and when we have the money, we'll get married. Greg will walk you, however reluctantly, down the aisle. You'll wear a beautiful white dress, we'll get married at the church by West and then we'll go to Paris for three weeks. I promise," he whispered, kissing her forehead.

She bit her lip. "That sounds perfect. I like it."

"Yeah? Well, it's ours. Think about it, Brie. I know I do. Being a Laker and on Broadway never occurs to me because when I look into my future, all I see is you," he murmured.

She grinned up at him and wrapped her arms around him once again. "Good. That's where I want to be," she whispered before pulling him in for a kiss.