Hey! So, originally I feared that I would have to wait until the weekend to put it up, but then I got a message by FFN with the fifteenth review, so here's the next chapter. I just hope that everyone will like it, because the end's coming nearer and nearer. And however sad that is… it can't go on forever^^. And I'll do my very best to come up with a few new stories in the near future… and especially focus on finishing 'First Bad Habit'. I know I told you guys that it would be up a few days ago, but I couldn't get to writing the ending, because well, it's supposed to be happy and I was a little bit sad lately, so it was very hard to write and I didn't want to spoil it, so I left it for a few days. I'll do my very best, though, to finish it up as soon as possible.

No long author's note this time, since I don't have much time anyways. So, let's get on with the thirteenth chapter of this story:

This is a derivate piece of fiction featuring characters copyrighted and trademarked by Disney Enterprises Inc. It is based upon High School Musical, copyright 2006 by Walt Disney Enterprises Inc., all rights reserved; and High School Musical 2, copyright 2007 by Walt Disney Enterprises Inc., all rights reserved and High School Musical 3, copyright 2008 by Walt Disney Enterprises Inc., all rights reserved. The author is not connected with nor is this work authorised by Walt Disney Enterprises Inc., or any other motion picture studios. This work is solely intended for posting on Fanfiction, for the benefit and enjoyment of its intended audience. No commercial or financial benefit accrues or is intended to accrue to the author as a result of said posting. Any unauthorised copying or redistribution of this work might subject the party responsible for such unauthorized copying or redistribution to legal action by the owners of the aforementioned copyrights and trademarks.

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Recap of the last chapter:

He only threw her a doubting glance. Right now he wasn't so sure. "You sure you're not just trying to pick up the pieces, Shar?" The blonde nodded with poise. "She loves you, Troy, there's no doubt. She just needs to clear her head a bit, you know? Working out what exactly she feels and what she wants. Girls are a little bit more complicated than boys." Troy looked at her, appreciating her words. "And is there anything I can do to quicken things up?" This time it was Becky who answered. "Do something sweet. Something that'll convince her that you're right for her. That you love her. That you know her and that you know what she wants."

Taylor nodded supportive. "She's right, think of something!" And he thought. Thought until he got an idea. "I've got it!" And suddenly there was a spark of hope flashing through his eyes. He had waited for two years. He surely could wait a few days longer. And in the meantime he would do anything to convince Gabriella of what she wanted. Him.

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Chapter thirteen – Fighting for love

As Gabriella was leaving her house on Thursday morning, she had not expected something like this. She would have expected that she'd simply walk to her car, jump into it and drive to school, determined to finally talk to Troy. The contest was only one day – what a frightening thought – away and with their confusing feelings it could only lead to a complete mess. And so their only option was to get things straight. She knew that. She had known it the moment she had stormed out of the gym, leaving Troy and her friends behind. And therefore she had spent the entire night thinking about her feelings. What was she feeling about him? And what would she do about it?

It had taken her until the early morning hours to figure it out, which was why she was having an immense amount of lacking sleep. Gabriella rubbed her eyes and turned around after having closed the front door, walking up to her car. Or better, trying to walk up to her car, seeing as she didn't come very far. In due time, she looked down, just being able to avoid stamping on a very small packet. She could see from the size of it that it would have been fatalistic to do so. Whatever was in it, it wasn't made for surviving a human being putting his whole weight on it.

Carefully stepping aside and bending forward to pick the parcel up, she firstly noticed that it was wrapped in turquoise wrapping paper. Turning it over and over, she couldn't find a consignor address on it, only a name written across it. And what was the most surprising was that it was hers. Gabriella. Clearly written on the paper with a black pen. Nothing more, just plainly her name on an amber-coloured wrapping paper. And surprisingly she didn't need more to know who had sent this to her. It had been a personal ritual between them to wrap their gifts in a paper matching their first letter of their names. This had neither of them given much choice.

And he still remembered it. Not only remembered, but used it again. Anticipating what was in it, Gabriella carefully undid the paper wrapping only to find a blue box under it. Opening it cautiously, she gasped. That… that wasn't possible! Her hand shaking, she reached for the silver bracelet that was ingrained in the wool quilting the box. Holding it out in front of her, she examined it attentively. There was no doubt. It was the exact same one that she had owned two years ago. Troy had bought it for her; it had been a Christmas present. The last one if she recalled correctly.

But… she was sure that it was impossible. She had made sure that she would never see this again. Maybe it was an imitation? No, it wasn't. Turning it around, she saw that it still had the same words engraved. Love asks me no questions and gives me endless support. It was an adage by William Shakespeare. It had been her favourite saying to that time and Troy had memorized it, so he could use it for his present. But there was no way in hell he could have gotten the old bracelet back. He couldn't know where she had thrown it away. And even if he knew, he surely wouldn't have done anything about it. So he probably had gone and gotten a new one with the same engraving.

At least that was what she thought until she discovered a little note in the box. Curiously she took it out and looked at it. It's the same one. She froze, unbelieving. What? But that meant… that meant he had… How the hell had he gotten it out of the river? She clearly remembered throwing it into the one at the other end of the town. And he hadn't even been near her. The only one accompanying her had been Taylor. Taylor! Of course! She had to have told Chad, who had obviously told Troy. Typical! She really needed to have a talk with Taylor about keeping to oneself what had been confided in them.

But that didn't matter right now. All that mattered was that Troy had to have jumped into the river to fetch the bracelet back. And that after she had broken his heart! She really had to have meant something to him. Once more Gabriella felt a wave of guilt wash over her body. But now wasn't the time to go into a corner and feel ashamed. She had things to do, things mostly concerning the contest that was going to be held in one day – scary thought, really. Shaking herself to clear her mind, she put the bracelet back into the box and into her bag. It was time to get to school.

*

Screams. Loud, confusing screams. That was all that could be heard as Gabriella drove up to school. In a hell-for-leather manner she jumped out of her car, speeding up to the big cluster of people that had formed in the middle of the school's front yard. They were circling something or someone, she just couldn't see what or who. But to judge from the noises coming from the centre of the circle, Gabriella wouldn't eliminate all doubt that there was a brawl going on.

Now fearful and curious together, she approached the crowd, not really expecting to be able to see anything. There were students crushed together all around, jostling against each other, screaming or giving their own opinion. It was only that it was way too loud that stopped Gabriella from hearing anything detailed. But she didn't need to hear it, for she would be able to see it herself any minute.

People having caught attention that she had arrived silenced at once. Starring and pointing at her, they gave way and lined up so that she could walk through the mass. Feeling more than a little uneasy, she tried to avoid the stares, quickening her pace to get past them. It was creeping her out, all the looks and the whispers, accompanied by the screams of those who hadn't noticed her already. And then she saw it. Or rather, she saw them. Troy and Brandon. Lying at the ground, both of them gave a dreadful sight. Troy had a black eye, apparently having been on the receiving end of one of Brandon's brutal blows. But Brandon had visibly received a setback short after, seeing as his nose didn't look as if it was completely unscathed.

Paralysed by fear, Gabriella stopped dead in her tracks, unable to do anything but gawk at the fighting boys in front of her. At the moment, Troy was still on top, glaring down at Brandon, who struggled against the other boy's strong grip. Getting one hand free after a desperate fight for dominance, Brandon managed to land a punch in Troy's face, hard enough to make him roll of him. Taking advantage of that at once, Brandon jumped up, only to let himself fall on Troy moments later. Getting a grip at his shoulders, Troy tried to push Brandon off him, but obviously it didn't work.

Gazing at the boys and then around the audience, Gabriella asked herself why nobody stepped in. There were at least fifty boys there, all of them looking strong enough to break the fight up. And still, they didn't. They stood there, watching them, either with a shocked or an amused face. Gabriella couldn't believe them. It wasn't funny! What if one of them battered the skull of the other in? Because to her it didn't look like either of them was going to give up and suffer a defeat. But it looked like no one would step in any time soon. It was too bad that neither Chad and the guys nor Taylor and Sharpay seemed to be on hand.

But there had to be something done. Wrenched out of her thought by a loud scream coming from a girl, she focused back on the boys. It was obvious why she had screamed. Brandon now had Troy in a stranglehold, and it didn't seem as if Troy had the strength to get out of it himself. Looking around frantically, Gabriella saw nobody making a step forward. Therefore she did the first thing coming to her mind. She screamed. Loudly and clearly. On the double anyone stopped moving, even Troy and Brandon. All heads turned in her direction. Now even the ones slow on the uptake noticed that Gabriella had arrived.

But it didn't matter. All that mattered was the fact that Brandon let go of Troy's throat as soon as he clapped eyes on her. Taking a sharp breath in, Troy took his chance to shove him off and get on his feet again. His gaze diffidently searching for Gabriella's, he took a few uncertain steps forward, ignoring Brandon still lying on the ground. "Gabriella." It wasn't a question, just a statement. A statement of his tentativeness and his noticeable lack of ability to explain. But at the moment Gabriella didn't even care about any explanation. First she needed to get rid of her annoyance towards both of the boys.

She didn't care about who had started the fight or to which reasons. All that she cared about was that both of them could have seriously gotten hurt. And a fight in front of the entire population! How irresponsible could you possibly get? It seemed as if the two were trying to amplify the scope of science, because Gabriella had never known that you could become that dumb. "Troy! Brandon!" Her shouting was heard all over the school grounds, Troy was sure of it. He fought the desire to put his hands over his ears, but he knew if he did that then he wouldn't know what came over him. No, trying to let her shouting fall on deaf ears would definitely blow up in his face.

There was nothing left but to stand still and submit her lecture. And it was a right royal dressing down. "What the hell were you thinking? Starting this? Have you lost your mind or something? Or did you just need more problems than you already have? Well, for that you didn't need to take the risk of having cleaved your head open afterwards. If you wanted more problems, then you could have come to me. Especially you, Brandon! Was being turned down by me for the hundredths time not enough? Or you, Troy! Our constant fighting should be enough, don't you think?" She deliberately pushed the fact that there hadn't been much fighting going on for the last days to the back of her mind.

Suddenly she became aware that every student being around was following her outburst. And she didn't like it. In her opinion she had already given them enough to gossip about for the next few years, so there was no reason to let them stick around any longer. "And you!" She let her gaze fly over them accusingly. "You better get lost. Otherwise I'll be thinking about going to our dear principal and ask him about the punishment for failure to render assistance to break up a fight!" She had never seen the yard being cleared as quickly as now.

But however; that wasn't the point right now. She shot a nasty glare to both Troy, who made a face as long as a fiddle, and Brandon, who had at long last managed to struggle himself back to his feet. Ready to continue with her tirade, she opened her mouth, but closed it again, as she saw Becky running towards her. "It wasn't Troy's fault, Gabs. Brandon provoked him. He was angry after he got word that you and Troy…", she broke up, blushing like a peony. It took a requesting look from Gabriella for her to continue. "Well, you know… kissed!" Gabriella saw daylight. That was putting another complexion on things.

That meant… that meant that Brandon had been jealous and had waited for his opportunity to pay Troy back. That was low, in her opinion. She turned to Brandon, who hadn't said anything to Becky's accusation. "Is that true?" The look in his eyes made a response redundant. Becky wasn't lying to get Troy through this. "How could you?", she asked perplexed, not understanding how someone could pick up a fight with someone over a girl. Over her. Unbelievable.

"And why the hell didn't you just walk away?", she turned to Troy again, who was still regarding her wordlessly. But now it seemed like the right time to finally say something. "Maybe because I didn't want to?" He asked back, his tone more than aggressive. Gabriella made a few steps backwards, taken by surprise. What the heck? "I don't care if you didn't want to! You should have nevertheless!" She was furious. Who cared if he hadn't wanted to? That didn't make it right to fight with someone. "Well, I did. Get over it, Gabriella." He was back to her full name. No Brie. No, he didn't even bother to look at her while back-talking.

That was the impression that Gabriella got. Troy, however, had other reasons as to why he was avoiding her gaze. It wasn't that he wasn't respecting her, far from it actually. He just didn't want to look at her, because he knew he would break. And he would tell her why they had been fighting. And he did not want her to know what Brandon had called her. Becky, though, put a spoke in his wheel. Nudging his side, she tried to talk him into telling her. "Why are you taking the blame for him? Just tell her what he said and she'll understand." Just a flicker in the younger girl's eyes gave away that she was afraid how the older boy she hardly knew would react to her bold speaking.

She didn't have to worry. Troy had noticed her hanging around the other three girls constantly and had grown quite fond of her, despite not having much contact to her. Although he would have preferred her to button up her lips right now, because now Gabriella was viewing him attentively. "What are you not telling me, Troy?" He carved. It was not like he had any choice, looking into her brown eyes filled with determination. Detaching his eyes from her, he mumbled something under his breath, hoping she wouldn't hear him. He was lucky, but it didn't really help him.

In spite of Brandon's dirty look, Becky cut in once again. "What he's trying to say – or much more not trying to say because he's afraid of hurting your feelings – is that Brandon called you something absolutely inappropriate to provoke him." Gabriella swallowed dryly. Great, this was getting better and better. "And what did he call me?" Becky regarded her carefully, before deciding that there was no point in trying to protect her feeling. "I'd say it would be something along the lines of you being a 'slut'?" It came out more as a question than a declarative sentence.

Gabriella's jaw fell down. That was harsh. Resorting to Brandon, she knew that it wasn't a lie. And she abruptly didn't care about his nose anymore. "I think it's better if you took a hike, you know? Before I loose myself and take over Troy's previous part." The boy opened his mouth, nearly laughing at her, before he realized that that wouldn't be a good idea. Hastily scurrying off was the much better option. He took it. Nodding satisfied, Gabriella tried to cover up the hurt written across her face, but didn't quite succeed. In a matter of seconds, Becky was by her side, hugging her.

"Don't let him get to you. He's just a jerk.", she tried to cheer her squad captain up. Gabriella tried a smile, but failed miserably. What if Brandon was right? What if she was one? Going and kissing some boy she had claimed to hate for the past years thrice? That wasn't normal, was it? Hey, you didn't kiss him. Theoretically he kissed you every time. The tiny voice inside her head was back. But I wanted him to kiss me!, Gabriella argued back. Troy sensed her distress. "Becky's right, you know?" His soft voice soothed her interior monologue. Looking up at him, she saw him smiling slightly.

It was the first time this morning that she really took his appearance in. His hair was extremely untidy and it was just now that she noticed the slight bleeding over his brow. And his clothes had several cuts and rifts. But somehow it didn't make him look bad. If anything he looked even better. Which didn't mean that Gabriella wanted him to stay this way. "I guess we should clean you up, hu?" She didn't wait for an answer, but went over and grabbed his sleeve. "Becky? Would you be so kind and tell Mrs. Smith that I was feeling sick and Troy offered to bring me home and stay with me?"

Becky was looking slightly uncomfortable at the thought to have to speak to the unloved teacher voluntarily, but nodded nonetheless. "I guess we won't get to see you two then?" Gabriella inspected Troy's cuts. "I would guess so, yeah." Becky nodded, turning around to school. "And nobody's asking me what I think about this?" Troy looked slightly offended, that they simply walked over him. "You're not complaining, are you?", Gabriella asked, cocking one eyebrow. He thought about it. Getting cleaned up by the school nurse and attending classes after that or getting looked after by Gabriella and skipping school with her? "Nope, I'm coming with you!"

*

After ten minutes, Gabriella drove up the driveway. "Uh, Gabs, what are we doing here?" She had driven them to his house. "What do you think? Getting you clean, of course!" Gabriella shook her head, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Are your parents at home?" Troy shook his head. "They're at work." Nodding, Gabriella lifted the door mat, to reveal a house key. Picking it up, she opened the door and entered, leading Troy inside. Troy was amazed. "You still remember where our house key is when we're not at home?" Gabriella laughed. "The amount of times I used it? You would think so!"

She went straight into the living-room, pushing the following Troy on the couch. "Ouch! Hurt one here!", he complained, only to be laughed at by Gabriella. "Don't tell me you didn't already have more serious injuries. And I bet that you didn't even care a little bit about them!" Troy shrugged with his shoulders. "Could be" She didn't even bother to throw him a look. Instead she went straight to the kitchen to get an ice-pack. She didn't have to search; it was still in the first box of the refrigerator. Taking it, she closed the fridge and fetched a kitchen towel from one of the cupboards.

"You still know where everything is in here, don't you?" Gabriella jumped with shock. She hadn't paid attention to Troy entering the kitchen behind her. "Why didn't you stay in the living-room?", she asked, hand placed over her heart. "It's way more interesting in here!", Troy answered jauntily, approaching her while eying the items in her hand. Gabriella looked at him unbelieving, but shrugged it off. "Whatever, actually it's coming in useful. I can disinfect your cuts in here."

Troy rolled his eyes. "Do whatever you feel you have to.", he offered, placing himself directly next to her. She reached for the bottle with the antiseptic. "You make it sound like it would be torture.", Gabriella teased him, spraying the agent on the cut over his eyebrow. He nearly jumped. "It stinks!", he pouted, giving her puppy-dog-eyes. A small smile tucked at Gabriella's lips. "And you want me to do what to make it better?" Troy acted as if he would think about it? "How about a little kiss?" Why had she known that he would say something like that?

"You wish!", she taunted, before she got serious. "Why did you fight Brandon, Troy?" Troy sighed inwardly. He had had the feeling that she wouldn't let him off the hook that easily. "I think Becky already told you. He called you… you know, a slut." For a short moment Gabriella closed her eyes. She had never thought Brandon could sink that low. But apparently nothing was impossible anymore. Especially if one took into consideration that she was standing here, trying to get her ex-boyfriend cleaned up. Only five days beforehand she would have sent anybody who told her that to see a doctor.

"I know that, Troy. I want to know why you felt the need to defend me. Why not just carry on as if nothing happened? You have no obligations towards me, you know? You really couldn't have cared less." She turned around, for one thing to put the antiseptic back, for the other because she didn't feel like facing him right now. Only moments later she discovered that, maybe, it hadn't been such a good idea. Now caught between the cupboard and the countertops she couldn't flee as Troy moved directly behind her, constricting her in her freedom of movement.

Her back faced his chest, as her hands searched for support on the countertops. Clinging onto it, she felt his hot breath brushing her neck. Whispering in her ear, he told her: "But I cared. And I still care. And I couldn't let him get away with it." Desperately trying to ignore the closeness she had to him, Gabriella tried to focus on the conversation and not on the well-trained abs she could feel under his shirt. "And you start a fist-fight with him?" Her voice was unbelieving and Troy sighed, his breath once again hitting her neck and making her shiver ever so slightly against him. Attempt to ignore what she did to him being so close, he concentrated himself to achieve a nod. He was unable to do anything else.

He moved lightly against her and Gabriella swallowed. This was bad. Really bad. What was he having in mind, approaching her like this? She couldn't. She could not give in once again. It was just wrong. So she was aiming to give attention to the subject of their talk. "We're not in kindergarten anymore, Troy! You can't just try and solve any problems by beginning to strike a blow upon the other one! I thought you knew at least that much!" She wasn't complaining. Not really. She was only trying to sidetrack him, so he wouldn't notice what he was doing to her. It was too bad that it wasn't working.

"You're not angry, Brie." Damn, why did he have to know her this well? Of course he knew she wasn't angry; if she was she would act totally different than she was now. But that he knew her didn't mean she would let this happen. "Right, I'm not. I think it's sweet." Somehow she managed to keep her light tone. Troy noticed and he knew that she was fighting this to happen, but he just seemed to not be able to contain himself. The only thing helping would be to be distracted by something else. Forcing himself to make a few steps backwards and letting her regain her ability to move, he asked her: "Did you see the present on your doorstep this morning?"

Gabriella smiled slightly, still trying to get used to the cold that had replaced Troy's warm body against hers. "How did you get it back? That river was pretty deep." She looked at him, trying to read his face. He was smiling and nothing indicated that he was feeling uncomfortable talking about that topic. "I'm a pretty good swimmer.", was his simple answer, his gaze meeting hers and holding it intently. Damn it, why couldn't he just tell her what he wanted from her. This was making it so much more complicated. But that was probably what she deserved, after all what she had done to him.

"I'm really sorry.", she told him, diverting her attention from him to the floor. She had never noticed that the Bolton had parquet in the kitchen. "I know" This plain sentence was all she needed. Suddenly it all streamed out of her; suddenly she felt the need to tell him everything. She told him how she had seen him, him and Tiara together, how she had felt, how she had suffered for weeks after that. She told him how she tried to get over him and eventually taken to hate, how she had hated to hate and constantly argue with him. And finally about how she had overheard Amber and Sarah talking about it. By the time she was finished there were tears streaming down her face; she was sobbing.

Within seconds Troy had vanquished the few metres between them and took her into his arms, soothing and calming her down. "Shush, Brie, it's all right, everything's alright." He stroked her back, her face pressed into his chest. "Nothing's alright!", she protested, eventually looking up at him, her eyes red and puffy from all the crying. He hated that she was right. Theoretically nothing was right. But that didn't mean that they wouldn't be able to get it right again. "Gabs, all that matters right now is that you know I didn't cheat. And that you know that I'm not mad at you." Gabriella gazed at him. "You're not?" The hopeful look in her eyes made him laugh.

"I'm not!", he assured her. "Does that mean that we could… that we could start over? As friends, I mean!", she added, crestfallen as she saw his motionless face. Little did she know that he wanted much more than just being friends. Inwardly Troy had hoped that they could start over as a couple, but if she didn't want more… He could do nothing about it. And he would rather have her in his life as a friend than not have her in his life at all. So he nodded. "As friends." He didn't notice Gabriella's disappointed face that was vanishing after a few seconds.

With faked happiness she poked his chest. "Well then, why don't you go up to your room and I'll come after you after I've found everything I need to deal with those cuts of yours?" He nodded, vanishing out of the kitchen only a minute later. Gabriella took a moment for herself, before she followed Troy up there. So they were friends. Well, she could deal with that. At least she hoped she could. Kicking his door open, because both of her hands were occupied with holding things, she saw him lying sideways on his bed, shoes carelessly thrown on the ground, shirt discarded somewhere on the floor.

Damn it, Gabriella! Stop starring at his chest, you're friends, you remember that? Well, she did. But that didn't mean she was able to ignore his well-toned chest that was exposed in front of her eyes. And especially not when he was unintentionally flexing his muscles as he was now, turning around so he was lying on his back. She had to close her eyes for a moment. No, you're not loosing your mind right now and throw everything you just told him overboard!, she urged herself. Obliging herself to move her eyes from his chest, she looked up to his face, seeing him smirking slightly at her, having noticed her gaze at his chest. She blushed. Making an effort, she walked straight up to him, putting the brought things on his bedside table. Taking the ice pack, she leaned over Troy, carefully holding it to one side of his face. He winced visibly, not prepared for the sudden feeling of coldness.

Now it was her who was smirking slightly. In a very sexy way, Troy had to admit that. His face had to reflect his feelings, because Gabriella couldn't restrain herself. In an abrupt access of emotion, she raised her other hand and brought it down to his face, touching it softly. Now there was nothing left what would hold Troy back. Unable to control himself any longer, he sat up out of the blue and didn't care about her faint protest because of her loosing the ice pack. Her complaining didn't last long, seeing as she squealed surprised as he pulled her into his lap. Loosing the balance, she gave in and found herself directly starring into Troy's eyes. The intense stare in them made her stomach flutter in anticipation.

Hands sneaking around his neck, she pulled herself automatically closer to him, feeling his abs from under her shirt. Closing her eyes, they split the difference. His kiss was gentle, just as the one they had shared in the gym. But somehow this time it was more to it. Maybe because they weren't in a gym full of people, but at his house, without anyone watching them. Letting his lips linger on hers, Troy felt her respond softly, as if she was trying to memorize the feeling of his lips against hers. Loosing himself into the kiss, he increased the tempo, making the kiss more passionate.

But it didn't take him long to realise what he was doing. Abruptly breaking the kiss, he turned away his head sharply, not daring to look at the stunned girl in front of him. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Gabriella, I shouldn't have done that, I know it's already complicated enough for…" He stopped himself from rambling, not knowing what he could say anyways. Letting his head hang down in shame, his nerves were nearly killing him, as he was waiting for Gabriella to react. She was still sitting in his lap motionless and she hadn't said anything yet. And to be honest Troy was more than just scared that she would jump up and leave the house after this. But he didn't have to worry.

Suddenly there was a small hand on his shoulder, pressing down at it softly. Baffled, he looked up, not counting on her face being this near to him. "Don't be", was all that Gabriella managed to get out, before she pressed her lips on his. Troy was shocked, astonished to say the least, but definitely not in a bad way. It only took him a split of seconds to apprehend what was happening, but then he lost all his thoughts in the passion of the kiss. It was both sweet and giving and passionate and demanding at the same time. And it made both of them feel like they had never felt before.

Gabriella felt Troy's tongue running over her bottom lip, begging for entry once again. She granted it to him without even bothering to think about it, throwing all thoughts about being friends away. Not being able to hold back a small gasp, as his tongue massaged hers, she felt his strong hands encircling her waist, pulling her even closer than she already was. Without wasting a second thought, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing herself into his body. She desperately wanted this kiss to last, to go on forever, so she would never have to worry about anything.

She knew that she loved Troy, either still loved him or had gotten to love him in these past days again, she didn't really care. All that mattered was that he was here and they were kissing. But soon the known need for oxygen became noticeable, leaving no other choice than to break the kiss. Gabriella opened her eyes and starred into Troy's. The contact lasted only a second before he already crashed his lips back on hers. Taken by surprise, she let herself fall into him, bringing them both down on the bed. Neither of them cared very much, their feelings overwhelming them.

Her hands ran over his chest, letting him no other choice than to let out a low growl. Giggling a little bit, she smirked down at him, removing her lips for a short moment from his. Groaning at the loss of contact, Troy swiftly rolled them over, so that he was on top with Gabriella squirming under him. Being greeted with the sight of a topless Troy over her, she didn't even think about complaining, just pulling him down to her and attaching his lips to hers one more time.

Soooo, aren't I evil to cut it off here? *wink* So, what did you think of this one? Who liked what Troy did to show her that he's always cared about her, no matter what? And who didn't? Please leave a review to tell me, because it's always so much fun to hear from people who actually like this story and it means really much to me, when they take the time to tell me their opinion. And you'll get an answer from me (though not, when you're not logged in, that makes it a bit too hard :]), although that can take a while. Which is why I'm going to reply to all of your reviews from the last chapter after I put this up.

Anyways, who wants the next chapter (which contains the contest, by the way) as soon as possible? You know the drill… the more reviews I get, the less time it takes for me to log onto FFN again :]

Until next time,

xoxo

Lena