Title: Be Who We Are ( 6/? )

Author: Amazon Ziti

Fandom: High School Musical

Pairings: Troy/Gabriella

Rating: Light R to be safe.

Disclaimer: I own only my plotline.

Summary: Troy and Gabriella hold up traffic. Troy and Chad try to find some common ground.

Word Count: About 4,500 words (14 pages), not counting Author's Notes or lyrics.

Notes: Only the first half of this chapter has been beta-read, so any tomatoes should be thrown squarely at me. Also – sorry for the delay, guys! Thanks for your patience!

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After Troy and Gabriella agreed to sing Kelsi's songs a week from Friday, the three of them walked to East High together. Kelsi was a talker when she was among friends, and maintained a steady stream of gossip, potential song lyrics, and staging ideas the entire way, leaving Troy and Gabby free to hold hands and exchange flirtatious glances with each other. Troy liked to think of this as practicing telepathy; he and Gabriella had been good at communicating without words from the moment they'd met.

They arrived at homeroom when Troy was in the middle of suggesting (with a tilt of his head, a slightly raised eyebrow, and a hint of tooth in his smile) what he and Gabby might be doing right now if she hadn't insisted they get up and dressed this morning. Gabriella had responded with her best "Not here! Not now!" wide eyes and pinked cheeks, which had disappointed Troy until she offered a silent invitation for a rooftop lunch, just the two of them.

"Oh, God," Chad said loudly, dropping heavily into the seat behind Troy. "It's going to be one of those days, isn't it? You two in lovey-dovey mode is enough to make me gag."

"Hey!" Troy protested.

"Yeah, Chad," Taylor said. She gave her boyfriend a smack upside the head before she sat behind Gabriella. "Instead of mocking Troy for showing some sensitivity, you could take a few pointers, instead."

"Psh! As if!" Chad retorted, and the repartee pretty much descended from there.

Gabriella winced and made a desperate face at Troy.

"It's definitely going to be 'one of those days'," he whispered to her.

"They'll be going at each other all morning," she replied. "You'll be a big, strong man and protect me, right?"

Troy pretended to think this over, then shook his head. "Nope. Every man for himself when it comes to a Chaylor firefight! I suggest you duck and cover, princess."

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Great. Just great. Some prince you turned out to be."

"Hey, rescuing the damsel in distress isn't as easy as they make it sound," Troy said cheerfully.

A sudden hush over the classroom made Troy and Gabby pause in their banter and turn around. Sharpay posed in the doorway, bright blue and sparkly, and wearing a different – but no less ridiculous – tiara. She glared viciously at everyone in front of her before barking a short, sharp "What?!"

"Hey, Sharpay," Zeke called bravely from next to Taylor. Troy hissed a breath out between his teeth. Every few weeks, Zeke would muster his mettle and try, once again, to thaw the Ice Queen. So far it had never worked, and usually ended badly. Today didn't look like it would be any better, as Sharpay arched an imperious eyebrow in Zeke's direction.

"Disintegrate, baker-man!" she snapped, before huffing to her own desk.

"Ouch," Gabriella muttered.

"Don't mind her." Ryan entered homeroom with a surprising amount of pep in his step for someone who ought to have lost all his toes to frostbite by now. "She's been like that since yesterday afternoon. The best thing is just to let it roll right off you."

"Hey, man," Troy said. "How's it going?" Troy didn't usually talk to Ryan much, but he couldn't help but feel sympathy for the other boy – and no small amount of admiration for his defiance of Sharpay.

Ryan looked grateful for the friendly gesture. "It's going all right. I'm going to take a flying leap to conclusions here, and guess that you all have heard I signed up for singles auditions."

"You are a braver man than I would be, dude," Chad said.

"No lie," Troy agreed. "If you need protection from the mob hit she's probably taken out on you, come and find us. We'll do what we can."

Ryan grinned. "Aw, thanks! He's sweet," he added to Gabriella.

Gabby mock-scowled. "To you, maybe," she said.

"He's not a damsel," Troy protested. "He doesn't count!"

"Right," Gabby drawled. "But really, Ryan – it's cool you're trying something new, on your own."

"Well, I saw that you two had signed up for singles, and it kind of inspired me," Ryan admitted. "And it got me thinking – I'm getting way too old to play Danny to her Sandy. Besides, if I don't get a part, I'll help with costume design. I've got too much fashion sense for one man anyway." With a wink, he adjusted the set of his white-and-gold beret (it matched his shoes, dress shirt, sunglasses and messenger bag) and sauntered over to his seat next to Zeke. Troy, Gabriella, Chad and Taylor watched incredulously as Ryan patted the basketballer on the arm reassuringly, ignoring the death-glare he got from his sister.

"Huh." Chad laid a hand flat against the desk, and then against the wall. "Temperature's fine in here – I could have sworn Hell had frozen over, but I guess I was wrong."

"Wait – what was that?" Taylor exclaimed, pointing towards the window. Chad, Troy and Gabriella twisted to look, but saw nothing. Taylor smirked at their uncomprehending stares and said, "Sorry, I could have sworn I just saw a pig flying past—"

Chad let out a theatrical groan. "Oh. Oh, that was bad."

"No worse than your Hell-has-frozen-over quip," Taylor rejoined sharply, and with that, they were at it again.

Deciding it would probably for the best just to ignore them, Troy turned back to Gabriella. She was studying him, a fond smile on her face. "What?"

"Ryan was right, you are sweet," she said, and laughed at the face Troy made. "No, really. He's never been all that nice to us, but you were nice to him."

Troy shrugged. "Anybody would have done the same thing."

"No, they wouldn't. But you did. It's a compliment, Troy. Say 'thank you'."

"I was just trying to do what you usually do when I give you a compliment," Troy said. "You know, brush it off and act like I'm nothing special."

"Troy!"

"Gabby!" Troy met Gabriella's exasperated look with an equal-caliber one of his own.

Gabby was the first to break eye contact, with a long-suffering sigh and a martyred twist to her mouth. "Obviously there is little to be gained from this argument, since you refuse to be reasoned with," she said with dignity.

"Obviously," Troy agreed.

"So I'm going to change the subject now, before you make me blush again." Gabriella cleared her throat. "So – how 'bout them Wildcats?"

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On Tuesdays, second period was free, after Ms. Darbus' English class. Now Troy walked Gabriella to the Chem lab, where she and Taylor and the rest of the Chem Club would spend a gleeful hour discussing in depth stuff Troy hadn't the slightest hope of understanding.

"Have a good workout, basketball guy," Gabriella told Troy. They stood in the Chem lab doorway in a loose embrace; Gabriella's hands rested on Troy's upper arms, while Troy's had found purchase perilously low on Gabriella's back.

"It's just me and Chad today," Troy said, inching his hands down. Gabby wriggled a little, but the pink of her cheeks told Troy it wasn't a bad kind of wriggle at all. "Since it's a free, Dad's not in charge, so we gave the guys the time off – it's the least we could do, after they were all run into the ground yesterday."

"Hey." Gabby frowned a little and poked Troy in the chest. "You were drilled to a pulp too, as I recall."

"Yeah, but I figure it's at least partially my fault, since it was because of me Dad was so pissed off." Troy shrugged. "And Chad wants to talk through some new plays. It's his first week as Captain, and I think he might be wondering what he got himself into when he accepted."

"It's nice of you to help him out," Gabriella said. She spread her right hand above Troy's heart, which sped up accordingly both at her sheer closeness and at the pressure on his pierced nipple. "Just – don't stretch yourself too thin, okay? I know you're loyal to the guys, and I love that, but listen, Troy." Gabby tilted her head up and fixed Troy with a solemn stare. "You're not responsible for what your dad does, okay? He might be upset with you, but that doesn't give him the right to take it out on the team, and even if he doesn't realize that, I think the team does. They know not to blame you for this. You proved yourself to them already, when you were Captain."

Troy sighed and tugged Gabriella even closer, sliding the tips of his fingers into the back pockets of her khakis. His thumbs snuck under the hem of her shirt to touch smooth skin. Troy felt Gabby shiver a little and smiled. "I know. It's just that… I guess it won't be that easy to take of my 'Captain' hat. Chad's in charge now, but I'm still set to do all the worrying."

Gabby's lips curled up at the corners. Troy wanted to kiss that smile, but Gabriella was talking again. "You're such a good guy, Troy," she said, and leant forward for a moment, resting her forehead on his shoulder. With a brief hum of contentment she withdrew again, dropping a sweet kiss at the hollow of Troy's throat. "If your Master Plan of Stealth and Avoidance doesn't work and your dad catches up to you and gives you a hard time, just remember that. I'm proud of you." Her eyes shone with admiration.

Troy gave up and kissed her, yanking Gabriella tight against him. Gabby squeaked at his possessive grip on her behind through her back pockets, but didn't protest; instead she shifted onto her tiptoes to better press the softness of her torso against the hardness of his. The fingers of her right hand dug into Troy's chest, while the left tangled in the hair at the nape of Troy's neck. Gabriella's mouth was slick and generous, opening for Troy when he demanded it, engaging but not fighting him. God, this girl was amazing. Troy wished fervently for a horizontal surface.

"Jesus Christ, will you guys get a room?"

The no-nonsense tones of Taylor McKessie were enough to jerk any guy, even one as crazy in love as Troy, away from a between-classes makeout session. Troy stifled a put-upon sigh as he lifted his mouth from Gabby's and reluctantly loosened his arms enough to let her touch her heels to the floor again. Gabriella relaxed her fingers where they threatened to leave bruises on Troy's pecs, but didn't pull away. "Sorry, Tay," she said, but her gaze was only for Troy.

Taylor snorted. "Yeah, right. C'mon, break it up, I need to get into the lab."

Belatedly Troy realized they were blocking the doorway. "Oh. Right." He tried to look away from Gabriella's gorgeous face, but she was biting her lower lip and Troy was possessed with the need to do that for her. He tried to lean forward, but was stopped midway by a violent poke in the side. "Ow! Geez, McKessie, chill out."

"Look, I already walked Chad to the gym and came back. You guys have had your nookie time. Gabriella? Let's go."

"Going," Gabriella said, and snatched one more quick peck before disentangling herself from Troy's arms.

Troy watched with amused fondness as Gabby tugged at the hem of her shirt and reached a hand up to check her neat ponytail, remembering now that she ought to be embarrassed by their uncommonly intense public display of affection. "You're fine, Gabby," Troy said, earning himself a grateful look.

"Yeah, if people had seen you guys, trust me, you'd hear them catcalling," Taylor said helpfully. She got a halfhearted glare for her trouble. "What?"

Gabriella shook her head. "Nothing. See you later, Troy?" She reached a hand out for him, which he took and squeezed.

"You bet. Lunch, right?"

A quick upward glance and a hopeful smile confirmed their rooftop reservation for two. "Lunch."

Troy grinned and heard his heart shout, I love you! …But this wasn't the time. Not with Taylor, Duchess of Cynicism, there to spice up the moment. It would have to wait.

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The locker room was almost empty. Troy slunk past his dad's office to get to the basketball team's lockers, where he changed into a practice jersey and shorts before sneaking back out of the locker room and into the gym.

Chad was there, practicing free throws with a scowl on his face. He was making almost every basket, so Troy knew the scowl wasn't due to his game, but to something else: Taylor? Coach Bolton? The wrong juice box in his lunch bag? Cautiously, Troy ventured a "Hey, dude."

"Hey." A few low dribbles, then another basket.

"You look, um, upset."

"Give the man a prize." Chad took another shot and jogged to the basket to catch the ball as it came down. "Hey. Troy."

"Yeah?" Troy gestured for the ball, which Chad tossed to him with no small amount of force. Troy grunted as he caught it.

"Does Gabriella—" Chad cut himself off, muttering under his breath, and jogged over to the rack by the bleachers to pick up another ball.

"Does Gabriella what?"

"Never mind. Go ahead," Chad said, with a nod towards the hoop. Troy ducked into his dad's fake-and-break move, but Chad just stood there.

"You know, this works best when you participate."

"Sorry."

That was a half-assed sorry at best. "Seriously, man. What's up?"

Chad fidgeted with his basketball briefly before talking. "Okay. Does Gabriella ever, like, expect you to know stuff – like, read her mind? And then get totally mad when you don't because you're not psychic? And then drag you around for a day or a week and still not tell you what's going on? And then—"

Troy interrupted before Chad could pass out from lack of oxygen. "No."

Chad stared, panting. "What?"

"No, she doesn't. What's this about, specifically?"

"Taylor's mad because I haven't asked her to the prom yet."

"Oh." Troy considered this. On the one hand, Prom had only officially been announced the day before, not that Troy had let that stop him. On the other… "Wait – you know why she's mad and you still haven't asked her to go?"

"Psh! Yeah, right! The little rant she just treated me to didn't exactly inspire my warm and fuzzy feelings, Troy." Chad's scowl deepened. "I hope she's as pissed off as I am."

"I hate to break it to you, man, but I don't think she is. Gabriella and I just ran into her and her snark levels weren't any higher than usual."

"God, that girl drives me nuts sometimes!" Chad threw his ball towards the opposite end of the gym. It bounced viciously until it hit the far wall, then reversed course until it finally rolled to a slow stop about halfway back.

"Um. Did you ever think about maybe talking to Taylor?" Troy asked. "Because from what Gabby's told me, Taylor thinks that the way you guys argue is, like, friendly banter."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Well – I couldn't tell it bothered you this much. You two have always bitched at each other. Gabby and I thought it might be some sort of weird mating ritual or something." Troy had to struggle to keep a straight face.

Chad rolled his eyes. "Never let me hear the words 'mating ritual' come from your mouth ever, ever again, Bolton. You've obviously been spending too much time with your freaky genius girl."

Troy shifted uncomfortably. Something about the way Chad said 'freaky genius girl' reminded him a little too much of the way his father talked about Gabriella – like he was kind of hoping Troy would break up with her already.

Chad had always been perfectly friendly to Gabriella. Even before the Championship, though Chad had complained about her to Troy, he'd been polite to her face. Troy had expected that once the Championship game was over – and particularly once Chad got a science-nerd girlfriend of his own – Chad might chill out and get to know and like Gabriella. The other guys on the team certainly had. But although Chad could socialize just fine with Troy's girlfriend when he had to (in classes, at lunch, and at the occasional house party), they'd never actually become friends.

Considering what Troy had been hoping to talk to Chad about, this might make things a little awkward.

Troy coughed. "So. Dude. Um, speaking of spending lots of time with my girlfriend…"

Chad gave a disinterested "Uh-huh" and went to fetch another basketball. Troy followed.

"Do you ever think about, you know, the future?"

"According to Taylor, my lack of prom-askage proves that no, I do not."

"I don't mean like the prom," Troy said. "I mean like what you guys are going to do over the summer, or how you'll apply to college."

"Um, no," Chad said impatiently. "Who knows if we'll still even be going out by the summer!"

"…Oh." Chad wasn't giving him a lot to work with, here.

"Wait. Are you saying you're thinking about that stuff?" Chad sounded incredulous. Troy felt the same way about his best friend: how could he not be thinking about all this?

"Well, yeah."

"You've talked to Gabriella about it? You guys have been making plans?"

How was this a big deal? If Chad was this weirded out by Troy's thinking ahead to the summer and senior year, Troy seriously doubted he'd react well to hearing about Troy's early-morning thoughts of domesticity and marriage. "Yeah, we've made plans. We've done some scouting around for summer jobs together. If you want to get anything good, you have to apply early."

"It's not even April yet!"

"April, May, June… Oh, look, summer!"

Chad glared. "I bet this was her idea."

The conversation was not supposed to go this way. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I mean you're all about Gabriella all the time!"

"That's not fair."

"Geez, you even sound like her."

"Hello! I'm for the team, just like I've always been! I'm your best friend, just like I've always been!"

"If you were really for the team, you wouldn't have given up the Captaincy."

"I gave it up because I thought that was what was best for me and for the team!" Troy ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Dude, I love the game. You know that." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chad give a grudging nod. "I love the team. I even love you, in a very straight, strictly platonic, totally brotherly way."

Chad softened enough for another nod and an embarrassed "Thanks."

"But I also love performing." Troy took a deep breath. "And I really love Gabriella. And having Dad and now you on my back for trying to do my best by everybody is not making any of this easier for me!"

Chad huffed. "Sorry, man."

"I just thought you were on my side. Especially after you were so cool about the Captaincy thing over vacation, and when you said you wanted to try out for the spring musical." Troy gave Chad a halfhearted punch on the arm. "You can't act one way and secretly mean something else and expect me to get it. Weren't you just saying how you hate it when Taylor does that to you?"

"Yeah." Chad took a deep breath. "Yeah. Sorry. I think I might be a little more freaked out about being Captain than I thought."

"I'm not throwing you to the wolves, man. You know I'll help you out when you need it."

"Yeah, I know," Chad said. "It's just… I got a 'pep talk' from Coach after practice last night. That didn't exactly put me in a great mood."

"Yeah, he's good at putting the fear of God and Coach into you, huh?" Troy said. "Hey, I'm sorry about him."

"It's not your fault." It looked like physically hurt Chad to say as much. Troy decided to be gracious.

"I'm sorry anyway."

"Mm."

"So…"

"So." Chad gave a Troy a speculative look. "Summer jobs with the girlfriend, huh?"

"Yup," Troy said. "There were a couple of day camps we applied to – counselors and kitchen jobs, you know? But the nicest jobs we've gone for so far have been at the Lava Springs Country Club."

"I've heard of Lava Springs," Chad said. "It's supposed to be really swanky." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"No lie! The people who go there are serious money." Troy shrugged. "But then, the jobs there pay better than anywhere else."

"What kind of jobs do they have open?"

"Oh, now he wants to think about the future!" Troy said with a laugh. "I've got a brochure at home. I'll bring it tomorrow."

"Cool." Chad hesitated, then said, "Come on, let's just sit. We're not gonna get anything done before the end of the period."

"Sure." Troy dropped his basketball onto the rack and followed Chad to the first row of bleachers. Both boys sat, bracing elbows on knees, and stared out into the dimly lit gym.

"Hey." Chad nudged Troy's shoulder. "You think ahead a lot?"

"I didn't used to," Troy said. "Before Gabriella, I mean. But now I kind of do."

"The most I've thought about college is worrying about my SAT scores," Chad said flatly, "and that's just because Taylor's on my back about it all the time."

Troy wasn't entirely sure what to say to that; he and Gabriella had done a lot of speculating about college. They'd each drawn up a list of schools they thought they might like, and compared them. There had been several the two of them had in common, and though their number-one schools were different – Troy favored the University of Albuquerque, and Gabriella was set on St. John's College in Santa Fe – they had been pleased to find those schools were little more than an hour's drive away from each other.

"Do you ever think at all about what you might be doing in five, ten years?" Troy asked.

Chad snorted. "Nah. Playing for the NBA, maybe? I don't know. You?"

Marrying Gabriella, Troy thought fiercely, but instead said, "I used to think it might be basketball, but now…" He shook his head. "It was so surprising to find something new that I liked – and that I was good at!"

"The singing thing?" Chad asked despairingly.

"The singing thing. And it made me think – what else is out there that I never even thought about? That's what I want to go to college for. To find out the different things I might want to do."

"That's kind of deep." Chad patted Troy on the back.

The boys sat in silence for a long moment. Come on, dude. Don't be such a wuss. Just say it. Troy took a deep breath and said quickly, "When you think about maybe the NBA, you ever think… maybe Taylor?"

That surprised a high-pitched noise of disbelief from Troy's best friend. "What!"

"When you think about where you're heading, do you see Taylor there, too?"

A brief, incredulous laugh. "Um, no. We are not that serious."

Troy wondered if Taylor knew that. "Oh."

"What, like you think about Gabriella like that?" Chad laughed again, and then stared when Troy pointedly didn't react. "Oh shit. You think about Gabriella like that."

Helplessly, Troy spread his hands. "Yeah."

"Holy crap." Chad made no effort to hide his astonishment. "What – when – how –"

"Chill out, man," Troy said, a little irritated. Was it so hard to believe that what he and Gabby had was real?

"Sorry," Chad wheezed, not sounding sorry at all. "It's just – Well." He closed his eyes, clearly trying to collect himself. "What do you… think about?"

Troy searched Chad's expression for any hint of ridicule, but could find none. "College. We want to go together if we can, or at least go to schools near each other."

"You've talked about this with her?" More incredulity. This was getting old fast.

"Yeah." Troy steeled himself. "But that's not all."

"Of course it's not." Chad released a long-suffering sigh. "What, you want to marry her?"

"Yes."

Silence. Troy bent to rest his forehead in his hands and waited for Chad to say something. Finally his friend murmured, "You're serious."

Just as softly, Troy said, "Yes."

"Dude. We're sixteen."

"I know."

Chad's voice was climbing in both volume and pitch. "You've only been going out with her for two months. You've only known her for three."

"I know."

"You haven't even done it yet!" Chad delivered this line as though it could wrap up their argument altogether. The only thing it did was make Troy mad.

"What difference does that make?"

"I…" Chad trailed off, his unfocused gaze directed towards the far side of the gym.

"I don't want to get married now," Troy said, trying to ignore how angry he was. "Definitely not til we're done with college. I know she wouldn't want to get into that before then. And I'm not going to propose to her now. But in a few years, I will." Troy had never said any of this aloud before – he'd barely let himself think it – but as he spoke he heard his words become more certain, and he knew everything he was saying was true.

"You really mean it."

"I really, really do."

Chad shook his head.

"I know you don't like Gabriella that much." It pained Troy to say it, and that feeling only grew worse when Chad didn't protest. "But you don't know her that well, either. She's amazing, Chad. She's the most amazing girl. I'm serious about her, and I mean it when I say I love her, and I'm gonna tell her I love her, and so I need you to do me a favor and try, okay? Try and see what I see. 'Cause she's not going anywhere."

Chad let a long, long moment pass before he finally said, "I'll try."

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FIN

Chapter Six

first posted September 28, 2007

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Tragically, I can't do any significant review replies, thank-yous, or Author's Notes at this point in time, as I am currently lost in the depths of the Colorado wilderness and this chapter was actually uploaded by proxy. I do love and appreciate all of you, though, and I promise due credit will be given to everybody when I get back to civilization.

In the meantime, tell me what you think of Chad. I was trying very hard to make him not a bastard but a typical sixteen-year-old boy, Let me know?

Auditions and cameos next chapter. Cheers, everybody!

Mr. Danforth! This is a classroom, not a hockey arena!