Ch. 30

"Oh my God!" squeals Taylor and Kelsi as they listen to Gabriella's retelling of last night. The gang were all over at the Bolton's house for a winter celebration and also as a chance to just hang out together. The boys, as predictable as they were, were outside playing basketball while the girls were sitting inside in the living room, listening to Gabriella's explanation of the ring around her neck.

"Gabriella Montez, will you be mine forever, for the world to see?"

Gabriella looks at the silver chain Troy was holding onto one end of and the Championship ring he loved to wear every day on the other. She looks up at him with a questioning look. "Are you sure? That ring means everything to you," she murmurs, knowing how attached he was to it.

"It does mean a lot to me, which is why I'm giving it to you. As much as I love basketball and I love the fact that I have a great team that worked hard to win the Championship last year, I love you even more. As silly as this is, I'd be honored if you would wear my ring as a sign of our real commitment to each other. I thought of this old tradition my dad once told me about when he was in high school, where a guy would give his girlfriend his class ring to say they were going steady. That romantic inside of me wanted to take this chance to give you a ring that means even more to me, to say the same thing, that I am utterly committed to you and our love," Troy answers.

She feels tears welling in her eyes, quickly trying to blink the happy tears back. Gabriella nods her head, unable to say anything, causing a smiling Troy to walk behind her and clasp the necklace behind her neck, just as he had that day he gave her the T necklace. Troy kisses the back of her neck before walking back around so he was facing her.

Gabriella gazes up into his blue eyes, seeing true, unadulterated love there, and knows this is where she belonged. "I love you Tory Bolton and I would love to be responsible for your Championship ring as a sign of my devotion, loyalty, and undying love for you," she says, knowing he could see the honest truth of what she said in her eyes.

Troy wraps his arms around Gabriella to bring her closer to him again and leans his head down to capture her lips in a tender and sweet kiss, not caring who was watching. He loves this woman in his arms and no one was ever going to stand in their way again, he'd see to it. Both break away as a wave comes and washes over their feet, Troy groaning as he feels ocean water in his shoes and Gabriella laughing at being doused by water once again during a kiss with Troy. He joins her laughter as they lean back into each other and share in another kiss, letting the water rush back into the ocean, taking away all the bad memories and tough times they had recently experienced, leaving a new couple behind who was stronger for it all.

"Seriously Gabriella, you need to convince Troy the benefits of teaching his team his moves!" Taylor exclaims, loving the story Gabriella had just finished.

Smiling, Gabriella fingers the ring around her neck that hangs just below the T necklace. "You all have romance in your boyfriends," she says, looking at Kelsi, Sharpay and Taylor who were looking at her. "And Martha, you'll find it soon enough."

Martha nods her head with a dreamy look on her face. "And when I do, I'm going to make sure he is just as sweet and romantic as Troy!" she exclaims with a wink to Gabriella.

"So everything is okay now?" Kelsi asks.

"More than okay," Gabriella replies with a smile. "I've learned that at times, life is not always what it seems but I think at this time, at this moment, what Troy and I now share is the real thing. My first and last true love."

"Eww, you are so gushy now!" Sharpay complains, not able to resist the urge to tease her friend. "I guess I'll never get Troy Bolton now huh?"

"Even if you tried Sharpay, he wouldn't give you the time of day, not after last night," Taylor responds for Gabriella. "Besides, you know you are head over heels for Zeke and his baking."

Sharpay's eyes light up at just the mention of her boyfriend. Kelsi laughs and looks over at Gabriella, enjoying the sweet dreamy look that is in her eyes. "So you're going to go through with this singing huh?" she asks.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Gabriella says, breaking her daydream of her and Troy. "Johnny wants to hear more of our original songs and your songs you've written for possible album ideas. Do you want to do it?"

Kelsi stares back at Gabriella, not able to tell if she was joking with her or not. "Are you serious?"

"Absolutely! Kelsi, I'd be nowhere without my composer and my friend," Gabriella says, wrapping her left arm around Kelsi. "Want to do it?"

"You bet!" Kelsi exclaims, unable to contain her excitement. "I have so many songs we could go through, you open to lots of meetings and practices? We can totally do it right after school, before school, on the weekends…"

"All right Kelsi, slow down. We'll get there, I promise," Gabriella says, laughing with the other girls over Kelsi's excitement. "We'll start first thing tomorrow after the scholastic decathlon meeting all right?"

Kelsi nods and smiles, her mind already racing with ideas.

----

Outside on the basketball court, Troy had just finished a three pointer when Chad noticed his Championship ring that matched Chad's, Jason's and Zeke's was missing. "Oh, you so didn't!" Chad exclaims, stopping the game to approach Troy and grabbing his right hand. "Guys, Troy did it!"

"What?" Troy asks innocently, knowing the round of crap he was about to get.

Ryan comes over from where he was watching the four friends to look at Troy's hand which had the tan line from the ring but no ring. "What does that mean?" Ryan asks, unaware of what was going on.

"It means that our captain is officially whipped by his girlfriend, for definite now," Jason supplies with a grin. "Ooohhh, wait until Coach hears about this!"

"No, guys, come on, you don't need to tell him!" Troy tries to reason, knowing his dad would only embarrass him.

"What don't I need to know Troy?" Coach Bolton asks as he comes out with an arm full of water bottles for his favorite players and Ryan.

Without saying anything, Chad raises Troy's empty hand for Coach Bolton to see who drops the bottles of water he is carrying immediately. "Seriously?" he asks, using a common word the guys had taken to using, causing them to laugh except for Troy.

Troy eyes his dad warily. "Seriously," he finally says, cringing at all the cheers that went up around him accompanied by the cat calls.

Coach Bolton stares at his son for a moment longer before grinning. "About time Troy, about time," he says, walking over to his son and giving him a hug. "I was hoping you would do that soon."

"Really?" Troy asks, looking up at his dad.

"Really. I couldn't imagine a better girl for you than Gabriella," his dad replies with a grin. "Now you aren't planning on getting engaged or married anytime soon right?"

"No Dad, not until at least after college, don't worry," Troy reassures his dad who nods his head. Chad, Jason, Zeke, and Ryan get a certain look in their eyes before running into the house, leaving Troy and Coach Bolton standing out on the court. They hear a scream, one Troy recognizes as Gabriella's, and soon sees the four boys carrying Gabriella out, the four girls following them out laughing. The four boys gently put Gabriella back on her feet next to Troy, laughing as they see her flushed face.

Coach Bolton, knowing he was intruding now, escapes and vanishes into the house, coming out a few moments later with a camera in his hands to capture this moment for his son of all his friends around him, with the love of his life in his arms. Coach Bolton could not remember another time where he saw Troy this purely happy before, smiling one last time as he takes a shot of just Troy and Gabriella with their arms around each other, looking into each other's eyes before heading back inside.

Gabriella and Troy stand together, in that embrace, as they deal with their friends making catcalls and teasing them after learning that the two were doing the old fashioned ritual of going steady, the step before getting engaged, also known nowadays as being promised to each other. They laugh as after a while of letting the boys have their fun, the girls pull them back in and help to calm down their antics.

"Man, it's getting cold out here now that we aren't playing," Chad says, shivering as he sees Taylor do the same. "Girls, interested in playing a mixed game?"

Taylor sees the challenge in his eyes. "I say we do girls versus guys," she says, knowing he would rise to the occasion. "I think we can hold our own."

"Umm, sweetie, as much as I care for you, you're about to get squashed along with Martha, Kelsi, Sharpay and Gabriella if we play us four basketball players and Ryan against the five of you," Chad returns.

"Yeah, that's not all that fair," Troy says, earning a glare from Gabriella who steps away from him and joins Taylor's side. "Oh come on Gabriella, you know that's true."

"No I don't," she returns, smiling as she feels Sharpay, Kelsi and Martha joining the two. "I think it's game on!"

The guys get a grin on their faces at the determination in the girls' faces. "All right then, let's do this," Zeke says, stepping up to the challenge. Both sides break away to opposite sides of the court to talk strategy before breaking away.

"Ladies first," Ryan calls out, bouncing the ball over to Sharpay who takes it with a competitive sneer. "Ooohhh, I'm scared Sharpay!"

The boys are so busy laughing that they don't notice Sharpay throw the ball in to Gabriella who takes the ball and completes a successful layup, earning the girls the first points of the game.

"NO WAY!" Chad protests, noticing what just happened. Gabriella picks up the ball and innocently throws it at Troy who catches it with a grin and a shake of his head. "Troy you were supposed to be watching her!"

"Hey, I didn't see Zeke trying to block Sharpay either!" Troy defends.

"Whatever man, go throw the ball in," Chad mutters, upset the girls scored first.

The game continues, each side taking turns scoring. Zeke, Jason, Chad, and Troy were all surprised the girls were doing so well on their own, watching as Taylor made a three pointer in with nothing but net, earning her squeals from the rest of the girls. Ryan laughs at the four basketball players as he comes over to where they are standing. "You act like you didn't know they could rise to the occasion and bring their best game on," he says, chuckling as he notices the girls are now standing there as a group, facing the boys.

"Come on, I thought we were playing to fifty points," Sharpay complains. "It's your turn."

Zeke grins over at his girlfriend. "Oh, don't you worry, we'll get there soon enough so we can end your misery," he teases, taking the ball from her grasp so he could throw it in.

"Hmph!" she lets out as she goes over to try to block his throw in.

The guys fight back, pulling out all the stops to score the next series of points by stealing the ball from the girls but the girls were not about to let them win without a fight. They pulled together and Gabriella, Sharpay, Taylor and Kelsi started using their boyfriends' appreciation of their looks to their advantage, distracting them every chance they could get to steal the ball back. Soon the game is tied and it is all dependant on one last shot. Chad throws the ball over to Troy who grabs it before Taylor could interfere, bouncing it down towards the hoop, focused on the hoop only. Without realizing it, he runs Gabriella over on accident, hearing her shout in protest as she ends up on the ground.

"FOUL!" Taylor and Martha yell, going over to check on Gabriella who looks fine. Troy stops dribbling immediately and goes over to check on her as well.

"Sorry Gabriella, I didn't truthfully see you," Troy shyly admits. "Got focused on the hoop and winning. You sure you are okay?" He eyes her knees and hands carefully, concern in his blue eyes.

"I'm fine, really," Gabriella says, gratefully accepting his help up and smiling as he kisses both her hands and then her lips. "Although, I'm better now after those kisses and of course my two free-throw shots!"

Troy groans as he realizes she's right. He looks over at the guys who shake their heads, knowing the game could be won if Gabriella makes just one of the shots. Troy hands Gabriella the ball and takes his position on the side to watch her take her two shots. There is absolute silence as she lines up and bounces the ball a few times, shooting and completely air balling.

The guys chuckle as she pouts but stop as soon as she gets a look of determination on her face. Gabriella looks over at her girlfriends as they cheer her on, bouncing the ball again as Ryan sends it her way. She keeps bouncing it until Chad calls out, "Anytime now Gabriella!"

She gives him one last dirty look before closing her eyes and remembering one of her earliest memories with Troy, being in the gym and shooting hoops before Coach Bolton came in. Gabriella lifts the ball up and shoots, opening her eyes just as the ball reaches the hoop and Swish!

The girls scream and run over to Gabriella congratulating her and screaming their victory. Troy smiles over at Gabriella, proud of her, even with the guys coming over and muttering about losing to the girls. They follow through on good conduct though and shake hands with the girls, leaving Gabriella and Troy being the last ones. Instead of shaking her hand, Troy lifts Gabriella into his arms and spins her around, kissing her soundly before putting her back on her feet. "That was great," Troy says, looking at Gabriella who is grinning, the sweetness of victory evident on her face. "Not that I expected any less from you. How is that story you were writing about Hunter going by the way? I haven't asked, ever I think."

"Oh that? I've been done with that for a while now. I'm on a new story now," Gabriella supplies.

"Let me guess, an autobiography of your dating Hunter Smith?" Troy teases, unable to help himself.

"No, but close," she replies, waiting for his response.

"Argh, another fan fiction about Hunter? Are you kidding?" Troy complains.

"Hunter? He is so yesterday as a crush! It's a story about this wonderful guy who sweeps my heroine away from all the pain and drama in her life," Gabriella says.

Troy eyes her warily. "Another Hollywood hunk?"

"No, the guy is not another star. He's actually based on you," she answers, smiling at Troy's shocked response. "I couldn't think of a better guy to write about than my own wonderful boyfriend."

Troy lets out a relieved laugh and puts his head close to hers, leaning their foreheads together while keeping their gazes locked. "Have I told you what a hopeless romantic you are Gabriella Montez?"

"Just as you are Troy Bolton. I love you," she returns, whispering the last part.

"I love you too," Troy returns in a whisper, both leaning in for a kiss, continuing it even as they hear their friends cheering somewhere in the background, no longer caring what they thought. As long as Troy and Gabriella were together, which they planned to be through spring semester and college and hopefully beyond, all was right again in their world.

The End!