AN: Hey everyone. Rin, Cori, and Stacey here to bring you the first Christmas story of the season. This story will have a chapter posted daily until December 25th [Christmas Day]. We hope you all enjoy it and leave us a review on what you think.
All I Want
The campus was buzzing with anticipation as Gabriella Montez exited her Organic Chemistry final and began her walk back to her apartment. It was finals week at Stanford University, and Gabriella, just like the rest of the students, couldn't wait to go home for Christmas break.
Gabriella pulled her jacket more tightly around her shoulders as a cool winter breeze blew towards her. She couldn't wait to get back to the warmth of her apartment, where she could cuddle up in her bed with a cup of hot chocolate in hand.
As she climbed the steps to her second floor apartment that she shared with her best friend on campus, she could hear Charlie Brown's Christmas playing loudly from their apartment. With a small smirk on her face, Gabriella opened the door to see her best friend eating the frosted Christmas cookies she had baked to take home, while he intently watched the movie.
"Chad, I thought I told you I was taking those home," Gabriella amusedly reprimanded him, giggling as he tried to hide the evidence by stuffing three cookies in his mouth.
"Hey Gabs," Chad greeted, crumbs dusting the couch and floor as they fell from his mouth. "How was your final?"
"Not too bad. One down, two more to go. How about you?"
"Sports Marketing wasn't too bad. Now I just need to study for Macroeconomics," Chad informed her, his eyes still glued to the TV.
"I can see you're putting in the necessary study time," Gabriella commented sarcastically, unable to hide her smile as Chad sheepishly grinned.
"Well, they can't expect me to focus on studying the night they are showing Charlie Brown's Christmas can they? I mean, it's classic. I never miss this."
Gabriella laughed and grabbed a few cookies from the kitchen before plopping onto the couch next to Chad, handing over a Santa-shaped cookie to Chad's delight.
"I thought we weren't supposed to eat these," Chad said as he took a bite.
"Well, since you already ate half of the batch, I'll make some more tonight."
"Sweet!" Chad cheered before running into the kitchen and grabbing the rest of the cookies. Gabriella laughed as she stretched out across the couch, her feet laying where Chad had just been sitting.
When Chad came back into the room he automatically lifted up Gabriella's feet, plopping back onto the couch and settling her feet in his lap.
"For someone so small you sure take up a lot of the couch," Chad teased, handing her another cookie as he shot her a smile.
Gabriella just stuck out her tongue in reply, giggling as she started to eat the cookie as the pair settled into a comfortable silence, watching the movie that played on the small tv in front of them.
Chad scowled as the sound of Gabriella's phone ringing filled the small room, drowning out the sound of the tv. Gabriella fished the offending item out of her pocket, seeing it was her Mom that was calling before she answered it.
"Hi Mom," she said, swinging her legs off Chad's lap so she could leave the room to talk, not wanting to interrupt her best friend's movie.
Chad watched her leave the room before his attention focused back on his movie, drowning out the sound of Gabriella's soft voice from the next room. He didn't look up as she came back into the room, positioning herself back on the couch with her knees drawn up to her chest, her arms wrapped around the tiny limbs.
It was a soft sob that tore Chad's attention away from the tv and back to his best friend.
"Gabi, what's wrong?" Chad asked as he reached out for her, letting her scramble onto his lap, burying her tear stained face into the crook of his neck as her sobs grew heavier.
After a few minutes the feel of Chad's hands rubbing her back calmed Gabriella down enough to speak and she kept her glance downwards as she spoke.
"Mom has to go away on business tomorrow, she won't be home for Christmas," Gabriella choked back her tears.
"So you go home with Patrick?" Chad suggested, his words being met with a furious head shaking from Gabriella.
"He's staying at school. He said he has important research to do in the lab with the science club," Gabriella answered with a roll of her eyes. "But I'll call and see if I can get him to change his mind."
Chad nodded his approval, kissing the top of Gabriella's head before she scrambled off his knee, wiping the tears from her cheeks with the sleeve of her hoody. Smiling hopefully Gabriella wandered back into the kitchen to call her boyfriend who answered his phone after only a few rings.
"Hello, Patrick speaking?" Was his greeting and Gabriella fought back the need to giggle at his usual, formal way of speaking.
"Hey, it's me," Gabriella's soft voice rung through to the living room where Chad had turned the tv down, his own phone in his hands as he dialed home, a plan formulating in his head as he suspected Patrick's answer.
"Hey Mom, it's Chad, listen Gabriella's Mom has to go away on business over Christmas…." He trailed off as he his Mom interrupted him, giving her approval before he even asked. "Thanks Mom, I'll ring and let you know if it's happening or not, bye."
Chad waited impatiently for Gabriella's phone call to end, knowing that he his suspicions of Patrick's answer were true as he heard Gabriella's voice growing impatient, her anger filtering through her words and then her heavy footsteps as she reentered the living room, her dark eyes seething in anger.
"How can a lab be more important than being with his family for Christmas," she muttered to herself as she paced the living room.
"Gabi," Chad tried to interrupt her, but Gabriella was past the point of listening.
"I can't believe he's picking the science club over his own girlfriend," her voice was louder this time, but still soft as hot angry tears spilt over.
"Gabriella," Chad tried again, standing up from his position on the couch, grabbing Gabriella's shoulder's gently as he haltered her pacing.
"Chad," Gabriella started, too frustrated to listen to him trying to rationalize her boyfriend's decision.
"No Gabi, listen. My Mom's invited you to come home with me for Christmas, based on the grounds that you bring cookies with you," Chad joked.
Gabriella's eyes widened, "She said that?"
"Uh huh, well not the cookie's part, but the part about you coming home for Christmas, my whole family will be there, so she said you're more than welcome."
As Chad's words sunk in a huge smile spread across Gabriella's face.
"Just watch out for Aunt Ethel, okay? She's scary." Chad warned with an equally huge smile.
"But won't your Mom and Dad just want their family around for Christmas, I don't think your roommate fits into that category."
Chad knew she had been too easily swayed before, knowing that Gabriella was very shy and the prospect of spending her Christmas with the untraditional Danforth bunch was probably quite daunting.
"I know it won't be the quiet, private Christmas you usually have, but it'll be better than staying here for the holidays, my Mom loves you, she thinks your sweet, and my sisters can't wait to meet you, probably to tell you all the embarrassing things I did."
"I don't know Chad, maybe I should stay here, get ahead on my studying," Gabriella replied, her voice sounding uneasy.
"You've been ahead on studying since the day I met you," Chad teased and Gabriella blushed. "You could not study at all and you'd still get top marks."
Gabriella's face turned serious with Chad's second remark. "Everyone has to study, Chad."
"I'll make you a deal, I'll study with you, let you help me make all your little study aids and everything if you come home with me for Christmas," Chad reasoned, knowing Gabriella was always trying to get him to study more often and more efficiently.
Gabriella thought it through for a minute. "Deal, but only if you stay away from the cookies."
--
Two days later and Gabriella was doing the last of her packing for her trip to New Mexico with Chad for Christmas while Chad was only just starting his packing, coming into Gabriella's room every few minutes to ask her if she knew where his various belongings were.
It was important to Gabriella to be organized for something as big as going home for Christmas and as an actual fact she had been almost completely packed to go home for almost two weeks now, only her daily essentials needed to be added and the few last pieces of clothing.
Chad on the other hand was the kind of person still be remembering things he had to pack as they walked out the door on their way to the airport, namely important things like clothes and his toothbrush. So far all he had started packing were his "essentials" his iPod, video games and his favourite basketball.
"Gabi, have you seen my iPod?" Chad's afro popped around the corner.
"Coffee table, Chad," Gabriella answered as she folded her last item of clothing before placing it in her neatly arranged suitcase. "And your earphones are under your bed."
Gabriella often wondered how someone as organized and shy as herself could become best friends with a messy, loud jock, but it was still a mystery to her. Her thoughts were interrupted as Chad came back into her bedroom, his iPod in hand.
"I just realised, Troy will be home for Christmas! You'll get to meet him as well, but don't listen to anything he tells you about me, it'll be all lies," Chad said excitedly and Gabriella remembered all his stories of his childhood best friend, Troy Bolton, Chad's co-captain of their high school basketball team.
"I'm sure they will be, Chad," Gabriella replied softly, "Just like he's going to say all the things you've told me about him are lies?"
"Precisely," Chad agreed before he left the room to finish packing. Gabriella started packing away her laptop to take with her and when that was done she placed her luggage by the front door and went to help Chad, making sure he had enough clean clothes to last their visit.
Leaving Chad to find his sneakers Gabriella went to say goodbye to their two roommates who were also packing to leave to go home for Christmas the following morning. After wishing them a happy Christmas Gabriella returned to Chad, finding him waiting for her.
"You finished?" Chad asked as he slung his bag over his shoulder. Gabriella nodded as Chad picked up her bag. "Where are the cookies?"
Gabriella giggled at Chad's worried tone and his paled face. "In the kitchen, I'll just go get them."
Chad still looked pale, but relieved to see the box of sugary treats in her hand.
"Okay, we have the cookies, we're set to go," Chad let Gabriella walk through the door first before he followed, neither knowing that the next time they were at their apartment things would be much different for one of them.