A/N; I'm seriously laughing at myself now because I'm kind of lame, I know. You guys,you seriously are the best ever. Thank you a million times for the reviews on the last chapter, they seriously are the best and yeah this sounds corny and I never believe when I read this myself, but they really are the reason to why I wrote this. Lucky me had a day off from school and I wouldn't want to spend it in any other way than writing this. Your reviews really makes me happy and wants me to take this story even further. This has been a great day so I'm posting this now and I would like to send Mr. Zachary to all of you for your amazing reviews. Really thank you so much you guys have no idea what your words mean to me. I like this chapter alot actually, and I like where it's going and I hope and think you will too. Enjoy mates, love ya all! P.s CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEERS TO JOE&DEMI!!!!! :D:D:D

Troy turned around. Of course she would be here, why wouldn't she? This was their place; they were the only ones that ever came up there.

"What are you doing here?" he muttered, not in the mood for a cocky comment at that moment. His feelings was like a tousled ball of yarn and having to come up with smarty-pants comebacks to make her annoyed with him wasn't on the top priority of his list.

"My, my, Mr. Bolton, are you not in a cocky mood today?"

Troy threw her a faked smile, not even bothering to try with a comeback.

Gabriella watched him with a curious look; she'd never seen him like this before. So…quiet. Normally he'd always be one to talk; even though he'd nothing to talk about he would just come up with some bastard statement just to have something in the air. But she liked this Troy more, the one that didn't say something inappropriate just to bug her, she liked how he looked to… vulnerable in a way, how she could almost see his thoughts through his head.

She would take the chance.

"They say it's going be really cold tomorrow, are the lifts still open then?" She placed her elbows on the railing, supporting her weight on them as she looked down at the slope that led down from the platform they were standing on to wild mark.

But Troy didn't reply, he just kept on looking out over the mountains not really caring if he was being rude at the moment. But right then, and right there, he didn't care if he seemed like a weak prick to Gabriella, because he was tired of the acting he somehow put up whenever she was around. It wasn't on purpose; it was just the natural thing for him to do when she was near him. Since the second he saw her he wanted to prove his masculinity to her, show her that he was a good guy but it all failed miserably when this act started, and he honestly didn't know where it came from.

Being a kid, Troy Bolton was the nicest guy you'd meet. He was the most popular boy through high school, girls wanted him and guys wanted to be him. He grew up into a fine gentleman, his father raised him to be strong and always give one hundred percent into everything he did. His mother taught him to respect everyone and don't judge one before he got to know them.

And now he'd failed, again.

He wasn't strong and he didn't give one hundred percent into everything. The situation he was in showed that pretty well. He'd been a big show off when it came to the woman standing on his side. If his father saw him now, he would be disappointed in him, again.

"I used to love it up here," he said. Gabriella looked at him strangely, not understanding where it came from but kept quiet because she sensed that it was not time for her to talk yet. "Chad and I have been here every single winter since our senior year. The snow comforts one in a way that you can't really explain. The cold clears your head whenever you need it. It's amazing to be able to just throw your snowboard shoes on and go any time you want. This is my paradise." He opened his arms to show her that he meant everything around them.

"Troy…" Gabriella said softly but stopped when he held up a hand to stop her.

He sighed. "When I was a kid, I played basketball all the time. My father gave me a ball before I could even walk and I played with it since. I was the captain through my entire high school years, and I was a promising talent they said. But I didn't want it." He shook his head as if trying to convince himself that he was right. "I came up here for the first time in senior year, and there was something special with the wind when it blew against my already frozen face. I loved how the snowboard and skis moved underneath me however I wanted them to, how it was up to me how I wanted them to go. I could advance or slow down whenever I wanted to." He looked over at Gabriella, not really sure what he was doing but seeing that she watched him with a face he couldn't quite make out.

"It really is special…" she whispered.

"It was never like that with basketball," he said calmly. "You always have to look out for your team mates, see if they can make a better shot than you, and maybe even score a point for the team. I loved it too; I really did, but not enough to make it into an every day habit. My dad was furious when I told him I didn't want to play in college anymore, and I felt so bad." Another sigh, heavier this time. He sounded tired, like he had been carrying on something heavy for a long time. "So I started to play a bit anyway, just to make him happy. But then he called the talent scouts. My mom told him off though, thank God. I wanted to snowboard. Since the day I got home from CR for the first time, I wanted to snowboard and ski for the rest of my life, I even wanted to go to a snowboard college." They laughed a bit at this, eying each other when they noticed.

"I moved up here right after I finished college. My dad was a bit disappointed at first, but he got over it and he actually enjoys coming up here on his vacations with Mom and just relax." He looked over at the brunette. "I understand why you decided to come up here on vacation, Gabriella. It is a paradise on earth, you have everything you need here and it's quite isolated from everything you have in Hollywood."

Gabriella drew in a deep breath when he mentioned her home. There was something inside her that woke at the sight of Troy talking about the place she so desperately wanted to avoid. It made her realize that even though her time in Croascount Resort hadn't been all that she'd hoped for, it was a hundred times better than everything she'd left in her hometown.

"I'm not a player, Gabriella." He turned his body so he was standing in front of her now. "I used to flirt much in college, yes, and okay I guess you can call me a player on some level, but I was never the cocky type that would laugh about it later and talk shit with my mates about them. And I'm not anymore. I might throw a compliment here and there, but it never gets more than that."

Gabriella raised an eyebrow; she had a hard time believing that what he was saying was true. Just look at him, a pretty damn fine looking guy in his mid twenties and he didn't score girls, that's like… it just doesn't happen.

"Please don't look at me like that. Fine I did sleep with some girls a year ago, but I haven't since then." He paused and looked at her. "Apart from you."

Gabriella's brown orbs met his azure ones and she felt a spark shooting through her stomach at the sight. She loved those eyes, there was no doubt about it she'd done it all along, but something had changed. Now she saw beyond those blue sapphires and into something that she had never known existed in them. Butterflies tickled her stomach when she saw how he looked back at her with the exact same look, like he saw something beyond them.

Troy suddenly took a step closer to her, bringing his hand to rest on her cheek, stroking it tenderly. And then the words that neither of them had ever thought he would say to her came. "I'm sorry." Gabriella found herself leaning into his touch, his tender hands stroking her soft skin. "I'm sorry that I've been a pain in the ass while you've been here, but…" he trailed off, not sure what he was going to say, not trusting himself around her anymore.

Gabriella's hand was now in Troy's, kissing his knuckles and letting their fingers lace while they rested between them. "But what, Troy?"

He sighed for the third time that night, looking straight into her eyes. "But being around you makes me want to be better than everyone else." Gabriella looked wide-eyed at him, clearly misunderstood. "I mean, I want to be better than everyone else so you'll choose me." And he saw how she let out a breath again.

"I'm not here to choose anyone, Troy," she said softly. This new way of talking to each other seemed completely normal, and at the moment it wasn't strange at all that they used to be enemies only two hours ago. It was like they'd been friends for a long time, known each other.

"I really like you, Gabriella." He squeezed her hand a bit to prove his point, searching her eyes for something that would tell him that she felt the same back.

"You don't even know me Troy. Maybe you like the idea of me, but you don't know me." She tried to pull away but he held her hands back, tugging her face back to look at him again.

"But that's were you're wrong, Gabriella. I know that you love to ski more than snowboard even though you rarely admit it. I know that you can be very annoyed with Sharpay at times, but at the end of the day you always forgive her for whatever she's done. I know that you like to dance, and I know that you don't really like alcohol that much. I know that you blush when someone gives you compliments, but get annoyed when someone's trying to ask you out when you've said no." He paused and tugged her closer, bringing her jacket down a bit on her neck. "And I know that when I touch or kiss you here, you go crazy." He let his fingers run over the spot where her neck met her throat, feeling how she shivered under his touch. Now it might sound cocky, but he was pretty sure that it was because of his touch and not for the cold air.

"Those things are easy to find out about someone, Troy." She struggled to not say yes to him, even though she didn't really know why.

"You're right, they are. But I did it out of pure observation."

"But that still doesn't make you know me, you know."

"No, but I want to know everything about you, Gabriella."