Thunder and Lightning

Summary: Kelsi gets caught in a thunderstorm on her way home from school. Oneshot. Trelsi.

Kelsi watched the concrete sidewalk as she walked home from school on a gloomy fall afternoon. She looked up at the stratus clouds above that had hidden the bright sun for almost two weeks, which was extremely rare in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The meteorologists had said it would eventually rain and Kelsi couldn't wait to see something else take place in the whether besides just dark, boring clouds. Even just one measly little raindrop would make her happy.

The next thing she saw was the grass as she felt a sharp pain in her side.

"I'm so sorry... er... Kelsi? Oh my god! Are you okay?"

She looked up at Troy. The moister in the air showed his breath as he apologized to the teenage composer.

"I'm fine," she assured in an edgy voice, picking up her text books.

He took her wrist as she struggled to push herself up off the ground and helped her stand up.

"I'm really, truly sorry," he said.

She rolled her eyes at the joke, "I really don't have time for this..." Thunder rumbled as she started to walk away. He followed her and a light drizzle fell upon them.

"Kelsi, this looks really bad and you live like forty, fifty minutes away when you drive... Isn't it like an hour and a half when you walk?' he asked.

"Why the hell would you care?" she snapped, speeding up her walk.

"When did you and Sharpay switch bodies?" he questioned.

"Leave me alone, Troy!" she exclaimed. Her glasses were covered with raindrops and fogged with condensation from her heavy breathing as rain started pouring, drenching both teenagers.

"My house is right her. You can stay there and call Kaytla to pick you up," he suggested alarmingly after hearing thunder rumble and saw a streak of lightning crash in the darkened sky above.

"Whatever," she mumbled in reply, her voice muffled by the rain, and he guided her inside the mansion. He helped her to the bathroom where they dry off.

He went to his room to change and within minutes went back to the bathroom to wrap Kelsi's tiny, shivering frame up in a blanket. He carried her out to the living room and gently laid her on the couch as she collapsed peacefully into a sleep to gain some kind of strength.

Troy took Kelsi's hat off and carefully pulled her hair out of the tight knot. He pecked her temple gently and stroked her cheek with his thumb.

He started to walk away, but found his hand making him stay. He looked at her and found their fingers entwined together to hold hands.

He scooped her back into his arms and carried her to his room.

"Troy..." she whispered, opening her blue eyes and looking into his. Staring him down broke his heart. Troy's heart tore as he set Kelsi on is bed.

"Everything's gonna be okay, Kels', we're okay," he assured and her cell phone went off.

She picked it up, "Hello?... Oh my god... Kayt', I... Oh my god..."

The line went dead and Kelsi looked up at Troy, tears spilling from her eyes as she hung up her cell phone.

"That was Kaytla... Caleb died..." she sobbed.

"Oh, Kelsi," he felt his emotions erupt inside of himself as he laid down next to his friend and comforted her.

"I know he had cancer and all, but he was only two... His first word was Kelsi... I should have never stopped working... I should have dropped out of school and gone back to work at my uncle's shop. He doesn't deserve this! Lizy and Abe don't deserve this! I don't deserve this!" she screamed out all her pain at him.

"Shhh... I know, Kelsi... I know, Baby. I'm here, Gorges..." he soothed as she continued to cry hard in his calming, loving embrace. She didn't even care what he was calling her at all; she just wanted him with her right now as her heart broke into a million pieces.

Troy sat on a bar stool in the kitchen next to Kelsi, rubbing her back as she slowly ate a bowl of sorbet ice cream.

"Kelsi... I know you want me to tell you that everything's gonna be okay. That in the end it will all be alright. But I can't... because I don't know what the future knows, Angel... Kelsi... all I know is that right here and I know that right now, until the end of time... I'm here for you," he said.

She looked up at him with glassy blue eyes and nodded, whispering in reply, "I know..." She then stared into the empty cereal bowl and squeezed her eyes shut tightly to hold back her tears. She opened her mouth to tell him something, but she only let a choked sob escape from her throat.

"Oh, Kelsi..." he muttered, pulling her back into his arms and rubbing her back. She placed her head on his shoulder, sobbing harder than she had in the past few hours. "C'mon, Kelsi... I'm here, okay?"

She leaned up and kissed him. He kissed back and they stumbled their way up the stairs and to his bedroom, their tongues battling to conquer the other's mouths as their own. The fell on his bed, him on top of her, running their fingers through each other's hair. She started unbuttoning his shirt, but he pulled away.

"Kelsi... you don't want this... you don't want a one night stand... Your emotions are just flaring. You're confused," Troy advised.

"Yes I do want a one night stand, Troy. I want to let my emotions go for one night! It's my fault Caleb died and this the only way for me to let go!" Kelsi argued.

"Sex will only make it worse. You'll feel not only guilty, but empty," he said. She looked away and he cupped her chin in his hand, tilting her head to look at him, "Playmaker... look at me... I don't want to hurt you. Okay, Gorges? I care about you way too much to let you do this." He kissed her temple as she nodded.

"Can we just make out then?" she asked. He nodded, taking her face in his hands and kissing her hard.

Kelsi held onto Troy tightly as the television in his room flickered off. She shoved her head in the crook of his neck, closing her eyes in fear.

He rubbed her back in comfort. "It's okay, Kelsi. Everything's fine. A power line probably just went down," he assured.

She was scared to death, but nodded despite her fears.

He looked at his watch and sighed. It was ten o'clock now and his parents were home.

"They're probably stuck at work, what with the storm and everything," Kelsi took her turn of assurance.

Troy nodded, looking down at the small girl laying against him, cuddled comfy to his chest, closing her eyes to rest. She had changed into a pair of his mom's navy blue sweats and a white camisole. Her skin was still damp, but because of the sweat that covered both their bodies from making out heavily.

All he really wanted to do was make her his, lean down and kiss her moist shoulder, but held himself from doing so since she might get the wrong idea.

She sighed tiredly, "Troy..."

"Yeah, Playmaker?" he replied.

"I'm gonna go to sleep now..." she muttered, laying her ear against his chest. His heartbeat drowned out his answer.

"Okay, Baby," he whispered his approval, rubbing her shoulder.

Once he knew she was asleep, he pulled her up so they were face to face and finally kissed her shoulder. The moister of her sweat entered his lips and he closed his eyes in wonderment. He opened his eyes and met hers.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I was... um... well... I was... watching you sleep?" he fibbed.

"Troy, don't lie. If you wanted to kiss me somewhere like my shoulder, you could have just done it. I don't care," she shrugged.

He kissed her lips. "You are the most truthful person I know, Kelsi Neilson."

"Well... you're the most talented person I've ever met, Troy Bolton," she complimented.

"More way than you know, Miss Nielson," he winked.

"Why don't you show me, Mister Bolton," she grinned wickedly.

"Kelsi..." he started, but then the look on her face she gave him made his heart break. "Alright... Fine... But I warned you..."

She smiled, kissing his neck seductively, "I know..."

Troy sat up in his bed and saw Kelsi next to him sleeping restfully after a few hours of sex. He picked up his watch off his nightstand and pressed the glow in the dark button. It read two thirty in the morning. He looked out his window and saw no sight of his parents' cars. He sighed in relief, remembering how loud the two had gotten over their course of making love.

He looked back at her. She was facing a wall opposite of him, hugging a pillow to her bare chest. He pulled the blanket closer to her body and lay back next to her, taking her in his arms. He tucked the blanket around them both and kissed her neck before settling in a deep sleep.

Troy woke up to the sound of rustling. He opened his eyes with a groan and found Kelsi stumbling around as she got dressed. He laughed as she fell to the ground, but stopped when she hit her head on the metal desk chair, collapsing on the ground.

"Kelsi," he muttered, wrapping his covers around his waist as he got up and made his way over to her.

She sat up too quickly and dizziness plagued her. He played one hand on her shoulder and opened her left eye widely with the other, staring into it to see if it was dilated.

He sighed in relief, "You didn't hurt yourself too bad. Just a little knock on the head. Nothing too horrible."

"My head hurts a little though, Troy," she whined softly, looking up at him as if her dog had just died. At least her cousin wasn't on her mind anymore.

He took her face in his hands and kissed her temple. "Better?" he asked, pulling away.

"Much," she nodded.

He stood up, pulling her with him.

"I just was going to where your mom's sweats, a zip-up sweater, and a camisole... I mean... if that's alright," she shrugged, kicking at the carpeting in his bedroom as she stared at the ground.

"Of course it is!" he exclaimed. "I mean... of course... I'll just go get changed." He walked into the walkin closet and changed.

When he finished, Troy found Kelsi downstairs in the kitchen, eating some cereal. He placed his hands on her shoulders and started giving her a massage. When his lips connected with the skin of her bare neck she shivered, shrugging her shoulders a little which made the shoulder of the sweater fall down to reveal more bare skin. He grinned, biting into her shoulder, making her moan.

Troy spun the chair Kelsi sat in around towards him and pressed himself up against her, pushing his lips to hers. She ran her hands through his hair as his fingers trailed down her body in wonderment. She gasped when he pulled away, leaving a trail of kisses down her jaw line and neck. A moan escaped from her lips and he went back up to her lips and after one quick kiss he looked at the clock and back at Kelsi.

"We have school," he whispered.

"Screw school," she muttered, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He scooped her in his arms and carried her out to his car, kissing her every few seconds on the forehead as she dozed off in his arms.

"Kay, Kels', I'm gonna put you down," he informed, gently setting her in the front passenger seat. She just lay against it perfectly, breathing steadily.

He kissed her temple before going to the other side of the car and jumping in next to her. He started the car and drove off, glancing at her every so often.

When they got to school, Troy scooped Kelsi back in his arms, rubbing her back. "Kelsi," he whispered, "we're here."

She shook her head, leaning against his chest, "Five more minutes..."

He chuckled, "C'mon, Playmaker. We don't want detention with Mrs. Darbus." He carried her inside and walked to homeroom. She collapsed asleep in his arms again as he entered the classroom.

"Mister Bolton. So glad you could join us. Is that... Miss Neilson in your arms?" Mrs. Darbus said in surprise.

"Yeah... Her parents asked me to pick her up. They're still out of power and had to pick up at his shop this morning," he lied.

Kelsi whimpered in Troy's arms as he set her down, "Don't leave me, Troy."

"Never, Playmaker... Now wake up, Kelsi... We're starting school," he murmured in her ear. She opened her eyes, rubbed them, and then with the last bell, school started.