Updates: Well this was a stupid ass long wait. So sorry about that. I actually had this written a few days ago but i got no internet so i couldnt upload it. Sorry.

Reviews: Thanks so much for all your reviews, I loves them :]

Enjoy ;]

Chapter 4

Troy awoke to the sensation of Sharpay lying next to him; his arm had made its way round her waist during the night. He felt somewhat peaceful. He didn't think Gabriella would exactly appreciate this position though, over the night Sharpay had cuddled into him. Skin to skin. He felt himself shiver but he pulled back the covers, moving away slowly, careful not wake her from her slumber. His feet collided with the hard, cold floor, sending sensations through his feet. He needed to re-think this whole situation with Gabriella. The relationship was dead; it had been for a few months now. It had never been passion-filled as such when it first started. He had hoped excitement and infatuation would have come at some stage later on and well…he was still waiting. He didn't know what to do about Gabriella. He suspected it wasn't really deep for the both of them, they'd never exchanged 'I love yous' or anything like that. He always thought the girl was the first one to take that step but Gabriella never had. He hoped she wasn't waiting for him to propose either, she'd been somewhat distance lately and he couldn't quite figure out why.

Maybe she was realising that their relationship was coming to an end too? It would make everything so much easier if she was. It had been almost a whole month since they had slept together too. Sex had never really played an important part in their relationship and it had taken Gabriella over three months too allow Troy to even touch her anywhere intimately, let alone actually have sex with her.

He sighed over this whole situation with Gabriella and he couldn't help but compare it to the situation he was currently in with Sharpay. He didn't even bother to deny the fact that he was attracted to her. Immensely attracted to her. And perhaps she was too him too? She was beautiful, her hair was like satin and he so desperately wanted to run his hands through it, she had the most deepest, mystifying blue eyes and he noticed she had three freckles as well. He wanted to kiss every single one.

But he didn't want to think about Sharpay, despite what his body was feeling towards her. The way her skin had pressed up against him the night before, it was like a whole new Heaven had opened up for him. But he had a girlfriend and no matter what anybody else says, Troy Bolton does not cheat – on anybody. He doesn't believe in it.

He flipped the kettle on and decided on a thought change, he wasn't going to think about his failure of a relationship with Gabriella, he had wondered, though it had never occurred to him at the time, why Gabriella hadn't moved in. He'd been looking for a new roommate for a least a month before Sharpay came knocking on his door. He was originally sharing with Chad but Chad had decided to stay with his girlfriend, Taylor. Something about Taylor's friend unable to stay with her, which he now presumed was Sharpay, so Chad felt like being the doted boyfriend and moved in with Taylor. At first, he was sort of annoyed but could understand it, then he was lonely, now – it was the best decision Chad had ever made. It lead him to Sharpay.

But no, not once when he was mentioning about getting a roommate did Gabriella consider them living together. Maybe it really was over between them.

--

Sharpay had survived her first night working in the bar, she broke a glass and almost tripped up and broke a barrel but other then that she was good. Her new boss was happy with her and the punters seemed to love her. Some chatting her up, some just naturally having a conversation. The good thing about Sharpay was that she had a heart-warming smile that could bring anybody in. Paul, he new boss was a sweetheart too. He was fifty odd but still, she had a feeling if she ever needed anything, she could go to Paul. This was insanely different to her boss at the Café, Margaret's Pancake House – it sold more then pancakes. The customers were nice and welcomed her but Margaret on the other hand, was another story.

Margaret was not all that friendly with Sharpay when she first took the interview, Sharpay hadn't wanted to leave Wendy's – which was the café she had worked in previously but given where she was living now, transport prices would have just been ridiculous, so she had to give it up.

Margaret, was a large plump women with a moustache that seemed unpluckable – it was that thick with no sense of fashion either. It appeared she had bad eyesight too but refused to wear glasses, she walked into the same door three times.

She didn't like Sharpay's brightness, she could tell, she had winced when Sharpay had smiled. But never the less she had offered the job to her. The notice had been up for months and this was the first time someone had taken interest in it, Margaret wasn't fool enough to let someone slip away. Sharpay hadn't cared for her reasons, she was just thrilled.

She was just going to tidy up around the apartment when there was a knock on the door. Troy was at work and Taylor was away, she wondered who it could be. Surely, Troy's friends knew when he was at work, some of them even worked with him.

She opened the door to reveal a bushy browned haired girl with possible ever lasting toothache. It was Gabriella, Troy's girlfriend. She was smiling crazily again but Sharpay didn't want to be rude and smiled back, although hers was much more softer and not so in your face.

"Gabriella. Hi. Erm…Troy's at work." She was confused at why she was here. Surely she knew that. You know being Troy's girlfriend and all. She giggled.

"Oh I know. I just had a free lunch and wondered if you wanted to do something? Kelsi was going to come but something came up, she didn't say what and I thought? What a perfect way to get to know Troy's new roomie! And plus you seemed to so nice when I met you the other night." She beamed. It had been exactly three days since Sharpay had moved out and she felt like it was only an hour.

"Oh well that's incredibly nice of you. I have the day off as the café had like no one in there, so yes. I would love to. What did you have in mind."

"Well, I was thinking maybe a little shopping – you seem like a girl who loves to shop and maybe a bit to eat afterwards?"

"Yeah sure." She grinned, this sounded like fun. Although, Taylor was the best in many ways, the girl hated shopping. Maybe Gabriella could be her new shopping partner?

--

An hour later, Sharpay and Gabriella were getting on great. Sharpay had decided that Gabriella was her official shopping friend. Whilst the two had extremely different tastes in clothing, Gabriella much-preferred wearing jeans and a top or maybe the odd flowery dress, Sharpay on the other hand liked skirts and pretty dresses. She decided to use some of her tips from the bar that she had made and splurged on a new skirt. It was denim and gorgeous. A dark blue and Sharpay knew the perfect top that matched with it. Gabriella had gasped when she saw Sharpay try it on, but she assured Gabriella that she owned skirts much shorter then this. She offered to lend some to Gabriella but she refused. They both laughed about it, skirts and pretty things, suited Sharpay much more then they did her.

"You're such a beauty queen, S. Is it okay if I call you S? It just seems so cool and I figured Troy had special nickname for you, why not me too?" She laughed.

"Yeah. Only if I can call you G!" She was joking but Gabriella seemed to take her seriously, Sharpay shrugged, she didn't really mind what nickname she had – as long as it wasn't Sharpie. She shuddered; she hated that nickname with a passion. "Nickname? What nickname does Troy have for me?" She tried to make a laugh about but inside she was flustered, did Troy speak about her when she wasn't there?

"Oh, he calls you Shar." She grinned. "I think its cute!" Sharpay smiled gently, Troy had only referred to her as Shar and not Sharpay. As much as she liked to think it was a special nickname for her. It wasn't.

"Erm…my friend. Taylor. She calls me Shar as well so its not really 'Troy's' nickname." Gabriella's face deflated a little.

"Oh." But it wasn't long before it picked up again. "Oh well, I think Troy likes calling you Shar." Sharpay wanted to ask her about her relationship with Troy. But what would she say? What could she say that wouldn't make it obvious that she was attracted and interested in her boyfriend? She was always sure her feelings for Troy were so obvious to everybody. The only thing that kept her going was the fact that nobody seemed to pick up on anything and if they had, they hadn't said anything to her. And surely they would, right? You know, stay away from my friend's boyfriend or something?

"So what's it like?" Gabriella asked and Sharpay looked at her confused, she giggled and explained herself. "What's it like living with Troy? Chad said he's a total neat freak, is it true?" She giggled again and Sharpay smiled at the thought of being the one living with Troy. But why wasn't his girlfriend?

"Erm…its good. He's really easy to get on with y'know? Well of course you know, being his girlfriend and all…" A silence overcame the both of them. Gabriella was looking at the onlookers wistfully, deep in thought. Sharpay looked at her, one burning question racing through her mind, repeating itself, rapidly. She desperately wanted to become friends with Gabriella, and she could see that friendship coming but she didn't want to do anything jeopardise it, she wanted this friendship to last. Gabriella was a good person; she didn't want to ruin what they had created so far, so soon.

"Gabriella?" At first, it seemed like she hadn't heard her but slowly she turned to look at Sharpay. She smiled softly. It was the first time she had ever seen Gabriella, not grinning from ear to ear. It made her feel ill at ease and not right.

"Yes." She replied, her voice equally as soft as her previous smile. She wasn't smiling anymore.

"Forgive me. But, why didn't you move in with Troy?" She couldn't help but ask, she wanted to know. Surely, the first person for a guy to move in with would be his girlfriend? Especially if they had been dating for a year, right? Gabriella let out a loud sigh and shook her head.
"I'm sorry, S. It's kind of personal. I don't want to talk about it. At least not right now. Not with anybody." She looked like any moment, a tear was going to leak down her cheek but she stayed strong. Sharpay sat up and reached across the table, running her hand over Gabriella's. She hadn't known Gabriella for very long but there was an essence of friendship between them. She was sure.

"I know I don't know you well, G. But if you ever need to talk about anything or anyone. Never hesitate to tell me okay? I'm a good listener." She let out a smile and managed a small one out of Gabriella.

"Thanks, S." Yes, there was definitely an essence of friendship between them.

--

Troy headed out of the staff room, a cup of coffee in hand; he quietly sipped it going over the whole situation with Gabriella in his mind. He didn't even notice Ryan approaching him. He looked up as Ryan slightly grinned.

"'Sup man?" He shrugged. How could he answer that one? Yeah, man. I'm totally cool. Although I am thinking of ditching my girlfriend so I can get with my roommate, how awesome is that? Yeah, cause that would go down a treat. He knew that if he ever treated Gabriella like shit, Ryan would come down on him like a ton of bricks, he was protective of her and didn't like anybody hurting her. It was Ryan who had actually introduced him to Gabriella. They had met six months previously, however Jason's girlfriend Kelsi had already known Gabriella anyway because they were friends at school. He always wondered, why hadn't Ryan got with Gabriella? Maybe, Gabriella just wasn't Ryan's type but then whose type was she? Loud, smiley, giggly and it wasn't just every now and then like a normal person, it was ALL THE TIME. She drove Troy round the bend half the time. He remembered when he first met her, he hadn't thought that much of her then actually. She was pretty that was sure, she shared a more exotic look to her rather then a full on beautiful. She had a attractive smile too, but this was mainly covered by all the damn teeth she loved to show off. Troy was in a rut, going out partying, bringing the odd girl back every once in a while and then never hearing from them again, he didn't like it – well the sex was good but he didn't like the idea of doing it any longer, he wanted a relationship and when he met Gabriella, she was perfect. Or at least he thought so.

She was easy to date; he'd give her that. On their first date Troy took her to a simple restaurant, it was middle class really, not too shabby but not to upper-oh-my-gosh-I'm-broke-now type restaurant. After that they just went for a walk downtown, enjoying the scenery, he hadn't kissed her that night, he wondered if he'd have tried, would she have allowed him? He didn't like pinning Gabriella with the word frigid but she was resembled that word often. He didn't call her straight away, in fact he had forgotten about her completely it wasn't until Ryan had asked how his date went that he remembered her. This was a week after.

Two years down the line…they were still together. Troy wondered exactly why they had stayed together. At first he was very enthusiastic about their relationship, they would go out for meals, visit the cinema, do all the couply stuff but after six months, whilst he hadn't treated her badly it was definitely different to the way he had treated her when they first got together. She never once complained about it though – which is what weirded him out. Maybe she liked relationships like that? Maybe she liked not being lathered with attention? Surely she would have done something about it now, so he refused to question her feelings on him any longer.

"So, I was just wondering. How are you and Gabbi?" Ryan asked, shoving his hands into his pockets and looking at the sandy gravel beneath him, kicking the stones about with his shoe. Troy shrugged.

"Alright, I guess. I don't really know. We don't talk much."

"You don't?" Ryan asked and Troy shook his head, not all that bothered about it.

"She doesn't talk much though, I mean she giggles and laughs mostly right?" It was Ryan's turn to shrug now.

"Dunno, she talks a lot with me."

"Oh." Troy didn't know what to say, did Ryan have a better relationship with his girlfriend? Would he actually care? He would, he did care about Gabriella after all. He wouldn't so much mind them two getting together, just not behind his back. That's not what friends do. "So, have you seen her lately. I mean since the night you guys met Shar." He hadn't seen her since that night.

"Oh yeah, I've seen her a few times. We went out for dinner and then went to see a movie and yesterday, when I was walking Joey, I bumped into her." Troy couldn't help but feel a little queasy. So his relationship with Gabriella may be falling apart and he may not love her but it still hurt to see that instead of his girlfriend calling him, she was calling one of his best friends instead. "I mean. It was just as friends, Troy. There's no…nothing between us."

"Oh no no, I know that. Don't worry about it mate." He forced himself to smile and Ryan nodded; however an awkwardness of silence had approached them and now they were stuck.

"Nothing between us at all…." Ryan muttered under his breath, quietly but Troy still heard it.

--

Sharpay grabbed a cloth and began wiping the spillages of the bar table. She was working in Paul's Place, it was only her third time but she was already getting the hang of it. She was also beginning to work out who the regulars were. There was one guy who had already offered her his number, she politely declined saying it would be unprofessional of her. He ate it up and let her be. She was just stacking up the glasses and taking someone's order when Gabriella walked in. She wondered what she was doing here, but then shrugged she was her friend after all. Friends visit friends. She had enjoyed their shopping trip the day before, hugely. She just finished the order, handing the guy a pint of beer and taking his cash before she headed over to Gabriella. She was pale, which was obscenely unusual for Gabriella. Sharpay only used to her tanned complexion took immediate concern. There were light streaks of wet running down her cheeks. She had been crying. Sharpay headed over to her immediately.

"G, what's wrong?" Her own voice shocked her with the amount of fear it contained. She sniffled lightly.

"I'm so sorry to come to you like this. I just…I don't know what to do." She let out a whimper and Sharpay reached across, running her hand over her shoulder, trying to give her comfort.

"Tell me what's wrong G." She was deeply concerned, had Troy done something to upset her? She couldn't ever imagine Troy doing anything to upset anyone, but then he was a man, so it was possible.

"I'm sorry, I just…I didn't know who else to talk too. And I can't tell Kelsi because she's been really weird on me lately and I think something's up with her but she wont tell me. And I can't tell Ryan because…because I just can't and you're the only person I thought I could. God, I'm really sorry to come to you like this. When you're working as well!" She wailed so fast, Sharpay had to go over it in her head to make sure she had understood it.

"Don't worry. I'll tell you what I'll get us both a drink and then take my break and we can talk okay?" Gabriella looked up at her, let out a small smile and nodded. Sharpay grinned and went of to find Paul.

--

"Okay, so what's wrong?" Sharpay asked as soon as they sat down with two fizzy cokes. She couldn't drink because she was working and she was underage, Gabriella didn't want anything either. Paul had been kind enough to give her a break, she was a little worried about telling him, one because she was a newbie and because about thirty minutes before Gabriella turned up, she had taken a quick break. But Paul was reassuring and told her she could take all the time she needed. She had hugged him for that, as she didn't know exactly how long this was going to take.

"Oh S, I've been feeling like this for months, I just didn't know what to do or how to go about it you know?" Sharpay nodded to show her understanding. They both took a sip and Gabriella continued. "Its just…well…its Troy." Shit, she hadn't made it obvious she liked him had she? Cause she was kind of fucked if she had. "It was never all that special when we got together in the beginning!"

Sharpay was a little shocked at this. Was it just her that Troy seemed to have the effect on? The smiles that made her insides turn to mush, the electric currents that were sent through her body when she brushed past him, how she could never stop thinking about him!? None of that?

"Well, how do you mean? Maybe you were just overlooking the little stuff, waiting for the big stuff to happen when In fact the little stuff all contributes to the big stuff?" Please, let that actually make sense…She said to herself.

"I mean, when I met him, he did make me swoon a little but I think that was over how good looking he was." No, arguments here, Sharpay thought. "It was all great, the first time I met him and then he asked me out and there was no spark there, I mean obviously there was something there for us to continue like this but when Troy smiles, I feel nothing and when he presses against me, when he kisses me, which is rare now, I don't feel anything." I'll take his kisses…Sharpay begged.

"So you're saying you think yours and Troy's relationship could be over?"

"I think so." Gabriella nodded, Sharpay's heart panged. She could only imagine how this must feel for Gabriella. She may have feelings for Troy but Gabriella was still her friend, and she cared about her. Sharpay remembered something, something of her own past that could have possibly helped Gabriella. She breathed in, this was a personal memory but if it meant helping a friend…she would reveal all.

"Okay, something happened to me. Sort of like this, I guess. Whatever, it changed me. I was seventeen when I met Jimmy, he was gorgeous, and everybody loved him – my parents included. He was the perfect candidate for a husband and son in law; he was working to becoming the next C.E.O of his dads company. When I met him, I was underage of course but that didn't stop us." Gabriella gasped, she had obviously waited till she was legal, Sharpay continued. "I regret it now, I wished I would have waited but he made me feel so special and I generally thought I was in love with him. So I slept with him after three months, after that he was distance, rarely calling me. He'd gone from an every night call to a once every ten days call. I didn't understand it and I was so confused. I was naive to think we would be together forever. It turned out he had been seeing two other girls at the same time."

"Oh S, I'm so sorry." It was Gabriella's turn to comfort her friend, Sharpay hadn't realised the tears flowing down, she hadn't told anybody but Taylor.

"I know this doesn't exactly resemble your relationship with Troy but what I'm trying to say is, I knew our relationship was coming to an end, we didn't talk and we rarely spent time together, I knew we were finishing but I didn't want us too, so I let it drag on. And by letting it drag on, I only got hurt even more." She took a gulp of her coke. "So if you think you and Troy are over, don't hesitate because by dragging your relationship out you're not only hurting Troy, you're hurting yourself too. And I may not know you well, but I don't want you to get hurt." The two girls pulled each other into a hug, clinging onto each other for salvation. Gabriella began crying again.

"If only it were that simple. Not only have I been losing my feelings for Troy, I've kind of began liking someone else. In face I've always liked him, it was just sort of in the back of my mind. I wanted to go out with him and when he didn't ask me, I was gutted but then he introduced me to Troy and I thought maybe if I went out with Troy he would make his move but he didn't, so I stayed with Troy – I mean I generally like him, still but I think, I think I am falling in love with him…And I don't know what to do about it all, about me, about us, about Troy…" Sharpay was severely astounded by Gabriella's confession. Had she been cheating? Didn't she love Troy? "I would never cheat on Troy, I just don't know how long I can take not being able to confess my feelings for him." Now Sharpay was confused. She took Gabriella's hands, as if to calm her down.

"Who? Gabriella, who? Who do you think you're falling in love with?" Sharpay questioned and Gabriella whimpered.

"Ryan. I think I love Ryan. In fact, I know I love Ryan."

Ohhh, told you the Troyella was coming to an end. Bleurgh, cannot stand them at all. So both Troy and Gabriella realise their relationship is a sham! Yay, now why cant the writers see that? lol

Reviews are love ^^