Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews! Enjoy…

Last Time…

Just then Gabriella stirred again in her sleep. This time however she rolled towards Troy. She rolled close to him, her head moving so it was resting on top of his shoulder. She snuggled close to him as she let one arm rest on his chest.

Troy was afraid to move. He didn't want to wake her and he didn't have any idea what he was supposed to do. Carefully, he moved his hand from the back of his head so one fell to his side. With the other arm, he bravely wrapped it around Gabriella. He closed his eyes and breathed in Gabriella's sweet scent, enjoying the closeness they were achieving.

He felt his eyes begin to droop, as the tiredness started to take its toll. He hoped the night would creep slowly by; he didn't want to move from this position. Ever.

Chapter Eighteen – Christmas Eve

Gabriella stood in front of the stove cooking French toast at around 10am on Christmas Eve morning. She watched as Lucas and Lily decorated a small tree, which sat on an end table, while laughing and smiling. Gabriella was pleased that she had been able to find inexpensive decorations to bring the Christmas spirit to life in their apartment. To see Lucas and Lily so happy, immersed in the joyful spirit of Christmas, made the aches and pains from working long hours well worth it.

When Gabriella saw that the thick bread was beginning to turn golden brown, she grabbed three plates from the cupboard and called Lucas and Lily to the kitchen. She carefully transferred each piece of sizzling French toast to each of the plates. Lucas and Lily had already gotten cups and utensils. They were already filling the cups with juice when Gabriella placed the plates on the table. She quickly found the maple syrup from a cupboard and sat down with Lucas and Lily at the table.

"Eat up guys" Gabriella coaxed, handing Lily the syrup after she'd quickly poured some over her own breakfast.

Gabriella carefully cut into her French toast while she watched Lucas pour a ton of maple syrup over his breakfast after he finally got his hands on the bottle.

"You have enough there?" Gabriella asked sarcastically.

"Mmm…." Lucas pondered, "No." He proceeded to dump more maple syrup on his breakfast.

"Lucas that's gross!" Lily exclaimed.

"It's not gross," Lucas protested, "It's…sweet!" he grinned triumphantly, proud of his pun. Gabriella couldn't help but laugh at her younger brother,

"You can put as much maple syrup on your French toast as you like, but you are going to have to find a way to eat it all." She reminded him.

"Oh I will" he grinned. It was then that he started shoveling the food into his mouth. Lily just shook her head and kept eating her food.

Lucas finished way before his sisters, but that was only to be expected as he had been shoveling the food into his mouth like he'd never seen food before. What wasn't quite expected was that there was a knock on the door. Lily and Lucas looked to their older sister to see if she had any idea who could be at the door, but she looked just as confused as them.

Gabriella stood up and walked to the door. She hoped it wasn't someone who would care that she still in her pajamas, like the landlord for example. She tried to brush her hair with her fingers and smooth out her old t-shirt and flannel pajama pants, to try and look more presentable.

She opened the door slowly, trying to figure out who could be knocking at 10:15 am on Christmas Eve morning. When the door was fully opened Gabriella was surprised to see none other than Troy standing in the hall.

"Good morning" He greeted warmly. Gabriella smiled and threw her arms around him, planting a kiss on his lips.

"What are you doing here?" she asked curiously.

"Surprising you." Troy answered, grinning down at her, "I thought I'd come hang out with you guys today, since tomorrow I'm going to be stuck at home with the family"

"Well come in, we're almost finished with our breakfast. Would you like me to make you some?"

"As lovely as that sounds, I actually thought we could go somewhere this morning." Troy suggested.

"Like where?"

"Do you like ice skating?" Troy asked.

"Yes! Well, I used to. I haven't been in ages, but yes I love it!" Gabriella rambled excitedly.

"Good, why don't you get dressed and we can go right now" Troy offered. Troy's reminder that she wasn't dressed caused a blush to appear on her cheeks. It had kind of slipped her mind that she was still in her pajamas when it had been Troy at the door. She was mortified that Troy had to see her like this.

"Urg, this is embarrassing!" Gabriella exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. Troy raised his eyebrow,

"Why?"

"Look at me. I haven't even brushed my hair yet!"

Troy simply smiled, "I still think you look beautiful."

The blush didn't disappear because of Troy's kind words it only seemed to intensify. Gabriella shook her head, smiling slightly,

"You are too good to me."

Troy flashed Gabriella a grin before Gabriella disappeared around the corner to get dressed.

--

Gabriella carefully placed one foot on the slick, slippery ice. Then she cautiously placed her other foot next to the one already on the ice, so the two ice skates were parallel. She took a deep breath and pushed with her right foot to move forward, away from the entrance. She glided about two feet to where Lily and Lucas were standing, supported by the wall of the ice rink, to wait for Troy. Troy easily glided to where the three siblings were standing.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Troy ginned enthusiastically.

The four took off around the rink. Like most skaters they skated slowly the first lap, just to warm up. As they became more confident their speed increased. Since there weren't too many people at the rink they ended up having a lot of races. The boys however enjoyed racing a lot more than Lily and Gabriella.

"Last race Troy! We're tied. Winner of this one takes all!" Lucas challenged.

"Deal. We go to the other end of the rink and back."

Troy and Lucas backed up to the wall where their race across the rink would be the longest. Troy looked over at Gabriella and she recognized her cue.

"On your marks. Get set. Go!" Gabriella shouted. Troy and Lucas shot off down the rink, their hockey skates allowed them to move incredibly fast across the ice. Gabriella hoped they wouldn't fall. She turned back to Lily who was practicing skating backwards. Gabriella smiled,

"It helps to look backwards and not look at your feet" She advised.

"But then I'll trip over my feet" Lily pointed out. Gabriella shook her head and stood next to Lily,

"Watch, it's just like skating forward, except you push your skates a little in front of you. Trust me, if you don't look back you'll crash into something or someone and that is no fun."

Lily took Gabriella's advice and looked behind her as she slowly moved backwards on the ice.

"See? That's much better" Gabriella encouraged. Lily grinned as she gained speed and confidence.

Just then, a shower of ice came raining down on Gabriella's legs. She turned around to see Troy and Lucas panting and supporting themselves with the outer wall of the rink.

"Wow, guys thanks for the shower" she joked.

"Our bad" Lucas said.

"So who won?" Lily asked curiously.

"Me!" Lucas exclaimed, "I beat him by a mile!"

"Only because an old lady was in my way" Troy defended. Gabriella stifled a laugh. He seemed so serious about his defense.

"Little bruise to the ego there wildcat?"

Troy held up his hand to protest, "I did not lose per say. I would have won, but like I said, there was this old lady. What was I supposed to do, run her over?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Sure…"

"If you were watching you would have seen it" Troy reminded her, "What were you and Lily doing anyway?"

"Skating backwards" Lily answered triumphantly.

"Psh, that's easy. Bet you can't skate on one foot" Lucas challenged.

"You can't even skate on one foot!" Lily countered.

"Watch me!" Lucas proceeded to push off of his skates and after a few moments he managed to lift one foot slightly in the air. However, he was only able to keep his foot up for a few seconds. Nevertheless, it was enough to make Lily feel intimidated. Gabriella leaned forward to whisper in Lily's ear,

"Lean forward slightly and lift your foot in the back. It will help you keep your center of balance."

Lily nodded discreetly and started on her own glide. Just as Gabriella had told her, she lifted her leg a little bit off the ice behind her. Despite being slightly wobbly she was able to glide on one leg for a good ten seconds. Amazed, Lily spun around to face Troy, Gabriella and Lucas,

"I didn't even know I could do that!" she exclaimed. Gabriella winked at her, happy that her sister had been able to feel her own triumph just as Lucas had.

Troy had watched Gabriella give Lily advice and couldn't help but be curious about how she'd known what to do.

"Since when are you an expert ice skater?" Troy asked quietly. Gabriella laughed lightly,

"I wouldn't say expert. Let's just say I used to watch a lot of ice skating competitions"

"You were an ice skater?" Troy raised his eyebrows. Gabriella laughed at the thought of being a figure skater.

"No," she laughed, "With my clumsiness, ice dancing wouldn't be such a good idea. I just watched a lot of competitions on TV and I happen to be quite observant."

"Ahhh, I see"

Lily watched Gabriella and Troy interact. She couldn't help but smile at the happiness she felt radiating from them. Truthfully, she never thought she would ever see her older sister genuinely happy.

In all the years they'd lived in terror with their father, Lily had watched Gabriella try to be happy around Lucas and her. But Lily wasn't stupid, she had seen past the thin veil of happiness Gabriella had draped over herself. Maybe that happiness had been real, but it had only existed for brief periods of time with underlying pain that the happiness could not make up for.

Now, for the first time she watched Gabriella laugh and smile with joy that had no boundaries. Lily herself had never known true happiness. Sure, there were times when she'd been happy, mostly due to Gabriella. However, she'd never known what it felt like to not have to be afraid to go home or not have to worry about her brother and sister getting hurt. For the first time, Lily felt safe and happy. Moving to Albuquerque was the best thing that ever happened to them. Albuquerque had become everything to Lily. It had become their happiness, security and love.

The love she was talking about didn't come from Gabriella that love had been there from the beginning. The love she was talking about wasn't directed at Lily herself, but at Gabriella. The love Lily watched right now on the ice, between Gabriella and Troy. However, she couldn't help but feel a tiny bit guilty about forcing Gabriella to always bring Lucas and her along whenever she went anywhere. Gabriella and Troy needed some alone time and all she had to do was figure out a way to make sure they got it.

"Hey Luc, there was something I wanted to show you across the rink." Lily said.

Lucas made a face, "Do you have to show it to me now?"

"Yes" she gritted her teeth and motioned her head towards the teenage couple, "I need to show it to you now."

After a few moments Lucas seemed to get the picture, his mouth formed an 'o' shape, "Ok then, lead me to it."

Gabriella smiled at her brother and sister, their tone could have been more discrete, but she was happy to take the alone time with Troy.

After winking conspicuously at Gabriella, Lily raced off with Lucas. Troy let out a chuckle,

"Have I mentioned that your brother and sister are so funny?"

Gabriella laughed, "I know, sometimes I don't know what to do with them"

"Well I'm not complaining." Troy grinned, holding out his arm, "Shall we?"

"We shall" Gabriella grinned back, linking her arm with Troy's. Her hand held onto his bicep as the couple managed to skate together around the rink. They managed to maintain perfect rhythm together, even when they were in hysterics. The two could have skated around the rink for hours on end together, but after a while Gabriella noticed her siblings sitting on the bench outside the rink, looking exhausted. Just after seeing them the four of them grabbed lunch at the café at the rink before heading back to the apartment.

--

"Ok, here's a hot chocolate for you and one for me" Gabriella handed Troy his hot drink and placed her own on the coffee table in front of the sofa, so she could sit down, before she picked her mug back up. Troy sat in the corner of sofa, with his legs stretched out, so it was easy for Gabriella to sit comfortably with her back against his chest.

"Thank you so much for today" Gabriella said reflecting on the wonderful day she'd had. After they had gotten back from ice skating and lunch, the four of them had come back to Gabriella's apartment and had played a myriad of games. They'd played everything from monopoly to the karaoke game Troy had brought over. To say it had been fun would be a massive understatement, the four of them had had more fun they any of them thought possible.

"Trust me, I enjoyed it just as much as you did" Troy answered. Gabriella smiled and took a gulp of her hot chocolate. "Let's play a game!" she said suddenly.

Troy raised an eyebrow skeptically, "What kind of game?"

"What's your favorite Christmas blank?" Gabriella answered excitedly.

"Ok, you first"

"Ok, What's your favorite Christmas song?"

"Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. That song is hilarious." Troy answered quickly, "And yours?"

"I have a lot. But I'd have to say my favorite favorite is Sleigh Ride." Gabriella decided finally. "Now it's your turn to ask a question."

"Ok, favorite Christmas present?" Troy asked.

Gabriella thought for a second and then her face lit up, "You're going to laugh, but when I was about 7 I really really wanted one of those Barbie Vans, you know the one that's like a house inside when you lift off the top?"

Troy stared at her blankly, "Brie, I didn't play with Barbies I was more a sword and guns type of kid."

"Oh, well whatever, I really wanted this Barbie Van, but my parents said they weren't going to get it for me. Then on Christmas morning I saw a box that looked about the right size to be the van, I got really excited and ripped all the paper off and it was the van. It turned out I had mentioned it to my grandma that I wanted it so she got it for me. I was so excited; I played with it for hours and hours." Gabriella smiled, "Best Christmas gift, solely because it was a complete surprise. What about you Troy?"

"When I was 5 or 6, my parents got me little kid basketball hoop, because my brother's was always too high for me to reach. I used to play with that thing every day for hours on end. That hoop pretty much cultivated my love for basketball." Troy explained.

"Ok, so last one, favorite Christmas memory." Gabriella wrapped her hands around her mug tighter, before she took another gulp of hot chocolate. She was really looking forward to learning about one of Troy's favorite memories. She'd come to the realization that though Troy knew a lot about her past she didn't know as much about his.

Troy took a few moments to process through his past Christmases. Finally he decided on one, "I think I was about 8 or 9 years old and my parents wouldn't tell Nora, Alex or I where we were going. They blacked out all the windows in the back of the car so we couldn't read the road signs and then during some parts we had to wear blindfolds" Troy laughed at the extent his parents went to for the surprise, "Nora being the smarty pants she was, was trying to figure out where we were based on how long we'd been traveling and how fast we'd been going, but it didn't really help. Anyway, finally they deemed it ok that we take off our blindfolds, which we'd had on for like an hour, and we were at Disneyland in California. All three of us were completely floored. Nora was excited about Sea World and Alex and I were ready to go on the fastest rides. That wasn't the best part though, the next day my dad said he had another surprise for Alex and I andmy mom had one for Nora, but hers wasn't nearly as awesome as ours was. Our dad took us to a Lakers game and we got to meet Shaq, that was when he played on the Lakers, and he let us play some basketball with him. Oh, it was fantastic." Troy sighed contently, "Best Christmas ever."

Gabriella smiled, "How did your dad do that? It must be impossible to get a chance to play against Shaq."

Troy shook his head, "To this day he still won't tell us. Alex and I reckon he knew someone who knew someone or something. What about you Brie? What's your favorite Christmas memory?" Troy looked at Gabriella curiously, wondering if it had been the right question to ask. He was slightly unsure that the question might bring up some painful memories. However, Gabriella seemed to have no problem answering the question,

"I was 8 years old. My grandma had come over from Spain to visit for Christmas and both my parents seemed happy, as did Lucas and Lily. It wasn't that anything really exciting happened, it was just the last Christmas I remember hearing my family laugh genuinely around me. We still lived at home in North Carolina, everything was just…happy." Gabriella said, her voice slightly somber as she spoke, "Sorry! That was depressing. I didn't mean to make it depressing. I mean it's not really depressing if you think about it, because we were all happy, but I guess-" Gabriella rambled nervously, luckily, as always, Troy was there to cut her off,

"Brie, I think it sounds like that Christmas fantastic. I didn't know you lived in North Carolina though."

"Yup, I lived in North Carolina for the first 8 years of my life, and then it was about 4 months after that Christmas that we moved to Connecticut. It's kinda weird thought, even after all these years I still think of North Carolina as my hometown." Gabriella explained, while she tipped her mug up so she could drink more of her hot chocolate.

As she drank the hot liquid something caught her eye under the Christmas tree, something that hadn't been under the small tree while Troy, Lucas, Lily and she had finished decorating it. Or should she say somethings? She leaned forward to try and get a better look at what could be under the tree.

"What is that?" she mumbled to herself.

"Hmmm?" Troy asked, furrowing his eyebrows, as he watched Gabriella get up from his lap and walk towards the Christmas tree. Confused, he stood up as well and followed her across the room.

Gabriella knelt beside the tree to look at the new objects that had appeared under the tree. She gasped when she saw two extra presents, one for Lucas and one for Lily both of which were from Troy.

Gabriella quickly stood up and turned around to face Troy, "What are these?" She was slightly angry with him. He shouldn't have done this.

"Presents for Luc and Lily" Troy answered casually.

"Troy Bolton you did not have to do that!" Gabriella exclaimed quietly, so Lucas and Lily wouldn't hear.

"But I wanted to" Troy countered. Gabriella shook her head. She felt bad that Troy had gotten her brother and sister presents and she hadn't gotten his brother and sister presents.

"No, but you shouldn't have"

This time Troy shook his head, he could see exactly what Gabriella was thinking, "Gabriella, please do not worry about it."

"But, but-" Gabriella protested before she was cut off by Troy,

"But nothing, it's my pleasure" Troy insisted. Gabriella sighed disgruntled; she knew she wasn't going to win this argument.

In seeing that he had won, Troy decided now would be a good time as any to give Gabriella her present,

"I'll be right back" he promised. Gabriella looked confused, where could he possibly be going? She watched as he walked to his coat and pulled a brightly colored, wrapped box out of one of the pockets. It immediately clicked,

"Oooo, let me get mine!" Gabriella exclaimed, dashing to her room quickly to grab her own brightly wrapped gift.

She made her way back into the living room and stood facing Troy directly. Suddenly, she felt really nervous about her gift. What if he didn't like it? What if he thought it stupid? What if it wasn't enough? She didn't think she'd ever been this nervous to give someone a gift.

"You want to go first?" Gabriella asked quietly. Little did she know Troy was feeling the exact same way she was – terrified.

"Sure" he said, trying to sound confident. He held out his present and Gabriella took it, carefully tearing the paper open. Once all the paper was off she slowly lifted the lid of the white box. She gasped when she laid eyes on the silver bracelet. When Gabriella pulled the bracelet out of the box, she saw that there were already charms linked on it.

"It's beautiful" she exhaled, "Can you put it on for me?"

Troy grinned, happy that she seemed to like his present. He took the bracelet by each end and managed to fasten the charm bracelet securely around Gabriella's wrist. He watched as her eyes lit up as she held up her wrist, so she could look curiously at each of the charms. Troy leaned forward so he could explain the charms he'd chosen. Carefully fingering each charm he explained each of their meanings,

"The bowl is because we have cereal for dinner a lot together, um this music note is because you're the most amazing singer," Gabriella smiled bashfully, "A book because number one you're brilliant and number two you always help me with my school work, chopsticks because we had Chinese food on our first date and chopsticks are the only utensil you should be allowed to eat Chinese food with," Gabriella laughed at the sweet memory of their first date, "This flower represents a lot of things, it's for the rooftop because obviously there are lots of flowers there, the red in the center is for East High, I had to get some school spirit in here somehow and last but not least, it's because you're beautiful just like a flower. Then this last one is really obvious and you shouldn't have to ever be in doubt of it, but it's a heart because I love you." Troy looked up at Gabriella, "And that's all" he finished bashfully.

Gabriella didn't even know what to day. She was blown away by the thoughtfulness of Troy's gift, not to mention the sheer beauty of it. She decided that there were no appropriate words in the English language to express her gratitude, so she leaned up to press her lips against Troy's. Troy was a little surprised by the sudden kiss, but felt thankful to be receiving it. As she wrapped her arms around his neck, he let his hand fall to the small of her back so he could pull her closer. Gabriella melted into his arms as her lips brushed his in a sweet, passionate kiss. Troy ran his tongue over her bottom lip, in hopes of entrance. Gabriella quickly obliged and their tongues danced together in a fiery kiss.

When air became a problem, Gabriella pulled away, her forehead still touching Troy's, "Mmmm, thank you." she whispered. Troy smiled,

"I'm glad you like it."

"Like it is an understatement, I love it" Gabriella whispered back, "I hope you like mine though."

Nervously she held out her present. It had taken her ages to figure out what to get Troy, when an idea had suddenly hit her. She'd been unsure of the idea at one point, but after some convincing she'd gone ahead with it.

Troy ripped open the paper and saw a CD encased in a CD case with a letter on top. He looked up at Gabriella curiously. She silently urged him to read the short letter.

Troy,

For all the love and happiness you've brought to my life you deserve the world and everything in it. I figured this was the only thing that only I could give you. I know how much you like hearing me sing, so I made a CD of songs all sung by me. Most of them express the deep love I have for you in one way or another, but some tell my story and others just make me smile. So, I hope this makes you smile.

Merry Christmas

All my love,

Gabriella

xoxoxo

Troy's face lit up as he read Gabriella's note,

"How did you…?" he trailed off, in pure amazement and excitement.

"Kelsi helped me. She knows somebody who knows the president of the AV club." Gabriella explained, "I'm not sure how it turned out, I was too afraid to listen to it" She confessed, "So, you'll have to tell me if it's really bad."

"Gabriella Montez, there is no way that this could possibly be even the slightest bit bad. This is going to be amazing. Do you have a CD player? I want to listen to it."

Gabriella suddenly looked embarrassed, "Uh…we only have a radio. Sorry"

"Well, I guess I'll have to leave then" Troy said, shrugging his shoulders.

"What?" Gabriella gasped, "Why?"

"So I can listen to the CD. I want to hear what you've put on here." Troy explained as he turned to walk towards the exit, a smile playing on his lips.

"But – but…" Gabriella trailed off. She wasn't ready for him to go. She didn't want him to go.

Troy turned back around and started laughing. Putting her hands on her hips Gabriella demanded to know what was so funny,

"I can't believe you thought I would actually leave." He moved closer to Gabriella, "I am staying here as long as I can" he whispered, placing his hands on her hips so he could draw her closer. "But do tell me, what songs did you sing beautifully for me on here?"

Gabriella's eyes looked up, as if they were trying to see into her brain, "You know that song I sang for you the first time I sang? That one is on there. Um, there are two Rascal Flatts covers, a song by Kate Voegele. Um…a really personal one as well as I'm Yours by Jason Mraz because how can you not like that song. Oh, this amazing song by Savage Garden, and a few other love songs. I have some Matchbox Twenty songs. Ooo and this fantastic song by David Archuleta, which I can't stop listening to. There might be more, I just can't think of them all." Gabriella rambled on, holding Troy's interest the entire time. He was thrilled with all the hard work Gabriella had obviously put into the CD.

"Sounds amazing. Thank you Brie. This means a lot to me." Troy said genuinely. Gabriella smiled shyly,

"I'm glad you like it."

"In your own words Ms. Montez I do not like it, I love it" Troy smiled cheekily. Gabriella laughed at Troy's silly face.

"Merry Christmas Troy."

"Merry Christmas Brie."

--

Later that night or more that early morning Troy sat on his bed after coming home from Gabriella's. At about midnight it had become pretty obvious Gabriella was ready to collapse. Though she insisted she could stay up all night with him (as could he) Troy knew it was in her best interest that she went to sleep because no doubt Lucas and Lily would want to get up early the next morning. That and Troy knew he had to get home as well.

The first he he'd done after getting home was practically run to his room. While walking across his room he'd opened the CD case to pull out the CD Gabriella had just given him. He smiled at the simple writing on the CD, 'I love you. Merry Christmas'

While shuffling around his room, the CD had played, filling the room with Gabriella's sweet voice. He recognized some of songs she'd mentioned as well as some others which she'd probably forgotten were on the CD. It was obvious which song was the personal one Gabriella had been talking about. The song must have been the one Kelsi and Sharpay had been talking about in Spanish class those months ago. Troy was glad she'd included the song, it made the CD all the more personal.

Troy lay in bed, still listening to the CD as he was about to fall asleep. As his eyes became droopy, sleep overcame him. The last few verses of a song played just before he drifted off to dream land. They became the last thoughts that entered his brain, thus making the last thoughts about his dear Gabriella.

Only you can take me sailing in your deepest eyes
Bring me to my knees and make me cry
And no one's ever done this
Everything was just a lie and I know, yes, I know

This is where it all begins
So tell me it will never end
I can't fool myself, it's you and no one else

If I could wish upon tomorrow tonight would never end
If you asked me I would follow
But for now I'll just pretend
'Cause if anyone can make me fall in love, you can

A/N: Wow, I seriously did not expect that to be this long. It's over 5,000 words. Just a little heads up, this was the last pure fluff chapter. Thank you for reading. Please review!

Ah! How could I forget? I fell in love with a song called "You Can" by David Archuleta, so I worked it into my story because I thought it pertained to it. So check it out! I'll put a link in my profile!