Ah! I'm off to a wedding and just remembered I had to update. I'm pretty sure this is the first time I was wearing heels while updating! I love all of you who read this story, every one of you who reviewed! I'm so happy that you guys liked this story! I don't know if I'll be writing another story, but I KNOW I have at least one more oneshot to post, so be sure to review, review, review one last time for one of my stories! Love you all and thanks! Enjoy!

Everything to Me

Chapter eighteen

The table full of friends sat laughing, as they passed around beers and exchanged stories. Troy, Chad, Rocket, Sharpay and Taylor were circled around a table at Irwin's Bar and Grill, all glad to be back together again to update each other on their lives. The windows of the bars were frosted from the harsh winter outside, but inside, everyone was warm and happy to be together. Troy had two empty seats on either side of him, and he glanced at the door, and then at his watch.

Troy only glanced away from the door for a minute when the eyes of his friends brightened with recognition. He glanced over at the door and saw Gabriella walking in, snow falling around her as she shook it from her coat.

"Gabriella, over here!" Sharpay said, waving at the familiar face. Gabriella instantly smiled when she saw the group, laughing when Sharpay and Taylor got up to hug her. The girls giggled as they crushed each other with their hugs.

Although Gabriella didn't know it, Troy's friends had blamed him for the break up, since they all couldn't grasp why helping with the bills was such a crime- definitely if it was done by someone who you were in love with. They were the ones who gave him grief after he broke up with Gabriella.

"You look great," Taylor told Gabriella, patting the chair that was sitting between her and Troy so that Gabriella would sit down. "Rocket said you've been in Hawaii? How is that?"

"Warm," Gabriella answered. The group laughed, all grumbling about the cold weather that had greeted them when they finally got into town. "No, it's great, really. It's different from this place, for sure."

"I bet," Chad said with a nod. "Hotter lifeguards?"

Gabriella genuinely laughed as Taylor gave her husband a whack. The group's smiles grew and Troy good heartedly caught the napkin that Chad threw at him.

"I guess you could say that," Gabriella replied.

The group "ohed" at her response and Chad threw another napkin at Troy, who threw it right back at him. As the conversation picked up, all of them tiptoeing around the Troy and Gabriella topic, the group was quieted by a new addition.

In the middle of hearing Sharpay's explanation about the difference between purple and periwinkle, Troy's eyes were covered by two, soft hands, a giggle escaping the lips of the person behind him. The group smiled, and Gabriella looked over at the girl telling Troy to guess who she was.

Gabriella had to admit, Troy having a girlfriend never came close to crossing her mind, so this girl, whose wavy, natural dirty blonde hair made her look like she stepped right off of the beach, surprised Gabriella. The group waved at her with huge smiles as she pulled her hands away from Troy's eyes.

When Troy turned around and his eyes lit up brighter than Gabriella ever saw them, Gabriella knew that this girl wasn't someone who meant nothing to him. He wrapped her up in his arms in a matter of seconds, lifting her off of the ground and spinning her around. She laughed as she pressed a kiss to his cheek and the group, minus Gabriella, awed.

"Don't worry," Taylor whispered to her, nudging Gabriella with her elbow.

"What?" Gabriella said. "I'm not," she whispered, shaking her head.

Taylor sent her a look that meant she didn't believe her and Gabriella looked back at Troy and the girl, hearing Troy exclaim how much he missed her.

"Hey, everyone!" The girl turned to the group once Troy finally let her go and she smiled, showing off her white teeth. "I'm sorry for interrupting."

"No need to be," Sharpay said. "Sit!"

The girl obeyed Sharpay, laughing as she sat down in the seat next to Troy that had remained empty until now. The smile that appeared on Troy's face when he first saw the girl was still there, just as big.

"I don't think I know you," the girl said to Gabriella, looking directly at her. Gabriella's heart quickly slightly when the girl's dark blue eyes twinkled in the bar lighting.

"Oh, I'm Gabriella," Gabriella said, holding out her hand to shake the girl's. The girl stuck her hand out, gripping Gabriella's while eyeing Troy. Gabriella looked down at the soft hand in her own and saw the large, very familiar looking engagement ring on the girl's finger.

"I thought you guys broke up," the girl said, dropping Gabriella's hand and looking right at Troy. Gabriella noticed how the rest of the people at the table sunk lower in their seats.

"Uh, we did," Troy said, glancing over at Gabriella.

"She looks so uncomfortable, you ass," the girl said.

Gabriella gasped as she looked between Troy and the new girl, hearing the quiet laughs from Troy's friends. Troy could only laugh as he looked at the angry girl who had so rudely called him out.

"Gabriella," Troy said, looking at Gabriella. Their eyes met and Gabriella wasn't sure how shocked she looked in the moment. Her racing heart told her she probably looked like a fool. "This is Theresa."

"Hi," Theresa smiled, grabbing Troy's beer and taking it for herself.

"My sister."

The whole table burst out laughing, including Theresa, and Gabriella's jaw dropped as she looked at the two people sitting next to each other, who were now starting to look a whole lot alike.

"You can hit him," Theresa told Gabriella. "I would."

"Maybe later," Gabriella said with a relieved laugh, shaking her head at him. He only shrugged, resting his arm over the back of her chair.

"You looked a little panicked over there, Gabriella," Chad said, winking at her.

"I'm sure I did," Gabriella said with a laugh. "I didn't know what was going on."

The group laughed again, leaving the teasing at that, and they eventually started talking about Theresa, and how graduating from med school and getting engaged on the same day felt like. The conversations eventually moved into talking about weddings and houses and kids, and the arm that Troy was resting on the back of Gabriella's chair seemed to be radiating heat right onto her neck, like a tiny little reminder of what once was.

"I'll be right back," Gabriella said when there was a lull in the conversation. "It's getting kind of hot in here."

The group let her go and she took the coat she hung up by the front door off of its hook and went outside, pulling it on as she walked. Her mind was being pulled into a million different directions as she leaned against the thick window of the bar. Her hands were shaking from either the cold, or from the panic attack she almost had a few hours ago.

The memory of the night she got on a plane and flew to Hawaii in nothing but her purple dress played in her head. She was trying to tell herself that she wasn't in love with Troy anymore and that she shouldn't be after the way he ended their relationship, but she couldn't accept it. Tears flooded her eyes as she thought of what to do next- go home or stay here as she faked being totally okay with seeing him again?

"You forgot that even though you can't see in, we can see out," she heard Troy say. She saw him walking over to her while pulling on his coat and then he gestured toward the window when she didn't seem to understand.

"Oh," Gabriella said, peering into the window after getting up from it. "Great, I'm sure everyone loved the view of me leaning up against that."

Troy grinned, shrugging as he walked a few steps further and leaned up against the brick wall of the building. Gabriella joined him, looking out at the road and the cars parked on the curb.

"What's up?" Troy asked.
"I'm just thinking too hard," Gabriella said with a shake of her head. "It's nothing."

"It doesn't look like nothing from in there."

Gabriella nodded, biting her lip as she leaned her head against the wall, looking up at the stars. Her breath could be seen in the air and the only part of her that was warm was her shoulder, which was pressed up against Troy's.

"It's really embarrassing, actually," Gabriella admitted.
"I'd love to hear it," Troy said, making her smirk.

She nodded, turning her head so that she could look over at him.

"I, uh, thought Theresa was your girlfriend, or fiancée, or whatever, when she first came in," Gabriella told him.

"Gross," Troy replied, cringing slightly.

"Yeah," Gabriella whispered with a nod. "I was just, uh, surprised…"

"About what?" Troy asked.
"About how sad I was to think that you found someone to spend the rest of your life with while I was in Hawaii running away from you," Gabriella answered.

Troy looked down at the ground, moving the snow on the sidewalk around with his feet. Gabriella sighed, wishing that she wasn't the first one of the two to admit their feelings. For all she knew, Troy did move on, just with someone who actually was his girlfriend.

"Why did you get a job in business, Troy?" Gabriella asked, hoping to get some kind of response from him while they stood out in the cold. Troy looked over at her, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Because a girl told me one night that I was everything to her," Troy answered. "That's all I ever wanted to be."

Gabriella felt her blinking speed increase, like she was trying to push back a year of emotions that were now being pulled to the surface. Troy sent her a shy smile.

"Listen, Gabriella. I messed up that night getting as upset as I did with you when you were only trying to help. You were right when you said I would realize that I was wrong."

"I guess we both made some big mistakes," Gabriella replied. "I mean, I moved to Hawaii and didn't even give you the chance to bump into me."

"Why Hawaii, anyway?" Troy asked.

"It was the first place that popped into Suzanne's head," Gabriella said, laughing.

"Suzanne…"

"My new best friend," Gabriella told him.

"Wow," Troy said, looking impressed. "I guess we have a lot to tell each other."

"We should probably save that for another night, though," Gabriella said, pushing herself away from the brick wall. Troy followed and took a few steps toward the door of the bar.

"You're right," Troy said, nodding. He walked backwards as Gabriella walked forward. She stopped walking after a few steps and Troy stopped too.

"You know, if we're okay now, the least you can do is kiss me after all of this time," Gabriella said, smirking.

Troy didn't waste a second after hearing Gabriella's comment, and he quickly kissed her, pulling her close to him. Gabriella wrapped her arms around his waist, his winter coat over her arms, warming them. They pulled apart only when they heard banging against the window of the bar, and they laughed as they realized again that the window was not in fact, making them invisible.

"Never alone," Troy said with a sigh, kissing her quickly again as she laughed. She grabbed his hand, pulling him back into the bar where they'd only begin to start over.

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unknownbyhim22