Author's Note: I do not own High School Musical. I know, it sucks that I don't.

Let the Rain

Gabriella looked up from her laptop screen and out in to her rain soaked backyard. Her balcony railing was dripping with the rain water falling from the sky. She slowly uncrossed her legs and swung them over the edge of her bed. She stood and slipped on her sneakers. She grabbed a sweatshirt off one of the posts of her bed; one that didn't belong to her, but to a certain blue-eyed basketball player. She ran her fingers over the letters on the back, above the number ten: B-O-L-T-O-N. Gabriella felt the material between her fingers and then pulled it over her head. He had left it at her house two weeks ago and she kept 'forgetting' to give it back. Gabriella grabbed the collar of the sweatshirt and held it up to her nose. She inhaled the scent of his shampoo and smiled. He always smelled good to her, even right after practice. Of course, she could never tell him that. She couldn't even tell him that she liked him; she couldn't risk their friendship, she just couldn't. She opened one of her balcony doors and stepped out into the pouring rain and icy cold. She shivered as the freezing wind hit her face, and wrapped her arms around herself. She looked up into the night sky, letting the rain hit her face, and smiled. She suddenly had an overwhelming desire to go for a long walk.

She considered going downstairs, but realized that her mother would never let her go out in the rain, at nine o'clock, by herself. So, Gabriella grabbed her cell phone off of the end table and went back out onto her balcony. Using Troy's method, only backwards, she swung her legs over the railing, so that she was standing on the edge of her balcony. Her hands gripped the bar; one false move in the rain would mean a certain fall. She reached forward and groped for the nearest tree branch. After a few slippery moments, working her way though the twisted limbs of the tree, she found her feet planted firmly on the wet grass. She dusted off her hands and crept closer to her house. She crouched low to the ground and ducked her head below window level. As she snuck towards her garden gate, she noticed the light turn on in her living room. She froze. After a few moments or silence, Gabriella continued to her gate, and opened it quietly. She rushed out to the sidewalk and away from her house.

When she reached the end of the block, she paused and leaned up against the stop sign, letting the rain soak through her jeans and his sweatshirt. She closed her eyes and felt the water running down her face. Suddenly, she started walking again. She didn't exactly know where she was headed; she just knew that she was walking. As she walked, she became lost in thought.

Troy was her best friend in the whole world; she didn't care that it sounded cheesy, it was true. She could talk to him about everything, and vice versa. He was there for her when no one else was. When her father got remarried, everyone else thought she should be supportive of his new wife. Troy was the only one who told her that it was alright to have feelings; it was alright to be afraid that once he got married her father would forget all about her. He was also the only boy that had gained the trust of her mother. Christina often allowed Troy to spend the night at the Montez household and Gabriella was often a guest at the Bolton's'. Although, there was a slight glitch when Christina discovered Troy in Gabriella's bed with his arms around her; their parents weren't very happy about that. As it ended up, he was merely comforting her; horror movies weren't for her. To Gabriella, there were very few days, or nights, that were better than that one. When she first met him, she felt this immediate attraction towards him; he was so likeable. Over time, as they grew closer, she found herself slowly, but surely, falling for him. And before she knew what had happened, she hit the floor.

Gabriella snapped out of her trance and looked around. She was on Troy's block. She sighed, not knowing why her legs had brought her here. She continued walking down the block, not daring to even think about stopping at his house.

♥HSM♥

Troy scratched his head as he stared at his calculus homework. He needed Gabriella's help with this sort of math. He threw his pencil down and sat back in his desk chair. He closed his eyes and exhaled as he listened to the rain hitting the roof. He absolutely loved the rain. It was so calming; it was a good thinking environment. As he allowed his thoughts to stray beyond their normal boundaries, they landed where they normally did. They strayed to a doe-eyed brunette, who had both Albert Einstein's brain, and a beautiful voice.

She was his best friend. True, he had only known her about four months, but there was something about her that was just so…bewitching. Sometimes he would catch himself making up excuses to talk to or touch her. Just being in her presence was enough to make anyone feel blessed; well, he did anyway. Being around her made him so nervous. He would often find himself ranting on and on about something totally pointless just to fill the silence. Then, after a few moments of mindless chatter, he would catch himself, and yet, find her listening intently. She always seemed to be interested in the pointless drabble that was leaking from his mouth, and that confused him. How could anyone stand to listen to him? Even Chad, who had known him for years and knew about his silence-phobia, told him to shut up every now and then. She never even shushed him. He was always afraid of those awkward silences; they ended with him ranting and he might let something personal slip out. Like, for example, how he really felt about her.

How when she does that thing where she sticks her bottom lip out, he can feel the hormones rushing throughout his body. How when their fingers entwined during the musical, he wished he could stay like that forever. How when she laughs, his heart melts. How the best day of his life was the day that she was so excited that she ran and jumped into his arms, kissing him on the cheek. How, so far, he has almost failed two tests by staring at the back of her head the whole testing period. How he is convinced that she ishis other half, that part of his heart that has been missing for seventeen years.

Snapping his thoughts back to normal, he glanced out his rain streaked window. As he did so, he observed a very peculiar sight; Gabriella Montez, his longtime friend and crush, sauntering down the street in the pouring rain. He smiled and chuckled to himself before grabbing a sweatshirt and running down the stairs. He opened the front door and ran out into the rain, just as she passed by his house.

"Gabriella Montez, what is a lovely young lady such as yourself doing out in the rain?" Her head snapped in Troy's direction and she smiled at him. Originally, she hadn't wanted an encounter with him, but now, she was glad he had spotted her. She stopped walking and let him catch up.

"I thought I would take a walk." She blushed as she felt his arm rub against hers.

"Would you mind if I came with?" he asked. A small giggled escaped her lips.

"I would be honored to share this wet walking experience with you." She reached over and grabbed his hand, entwining her fingers with his.

"So," he asked, "where are we going?" She began gently swinging her arm.

"I don't know. I was standing on my balcony and I thought to myself, 'I want to take a walk.' So I did. Have you ever wanted to just, like, go out and run in the rain?" she asked. He smiled at her.

"Actually, I have. It sounds unusual, but hey, why not, right?" He shrugged at his own comment. Gabriella began pulling him towards the corner. That's when he noticed the sweatshirt.

"Come on, I'll race you down the block," she said, the challenge apparent in her voice. He moved faster, not wanting to risk her letting go of his hand.

"Montez, where did you get that sweatshirt?" Gabriella blushed as she pulled him along.

"I stole it from this really hot guy who goes to our school. I was going to give it back, but I decided that I wanted it. I hope he's not mad." She looked ahead and her mouth fell open in horror when she realized that she had just called her best friend, and desirable crush, hot. She heard him laughing behind her.

"Well, I'm sure that if he knew you called him hot, he wouldn't mind at all." Gabriella stopped and turned to face him. Troy stopped with her, frowning, puzzled. "What…oh, right. Sorry, I mean…"

"So, does this mean that every time I say, "My best friend, Troy Bolton is hot," I get to keep your clothing?" Troy looked down at his sneakers, blushing profoundly.

"You get to keep my sweatshirts and jackets until I desperately need them back. What makes you think I would ever give you my pants?" Gabriella let out a loud laugh. She moved her arm so that their fingers were still entwined, but his arm was now around her shoulder.

"What made you think I would ever want your pants?" He gasped sarcastically. "I mean, they're so, what's the word, oh, lame." She rested her head against his chest as they walked closer and closer to the corner, feeling the material growing wetter by the millisecond against her cheek.

"I know that you love my pants, and have a desperate desire to wear them. Don't deny it." Gabriella giggled and brushed a wet strand of hair away from her face with her free hand.

"Alright, I'm just kidding. I would love to be in your pants." Troy let out a laugh so loud that Gabriella jumped. She released his hand and covered her mouth.

"Oh, my GOD! Oh my God, I didn't mean it like that…" Troy watched as she covered her face and continued walking.

"I didn't…It came out wrong…what I meant was…well, I, uh…crap…" She paused at the stop sign and grabbed onto the pole, miming hitting her head on it repeatedly. She spun around it a few times. As Troy watched her, he felt guilty when his first thought was of a stripper's pole. He shook his head discreetly, shaking the dirty thoughts about his best friend from his head.

"Maybe you can run off your embarrassment," Troy suggested. Gabriella stopped mid-swing, two hands on the pole with the pole between her legs, which were spread wide. The water from the puddle she was standing in was being absorbed by her already drenched pants.

"Is that a challenge Bolton?" Troy waggled his eyebrows at her.

"We race to the end of the block, and the winner gets to make the loser do what they want them to." He crossed his arms, confident in his offer. Gabriella walked over to him.

"So, you're saying that if, I mean when, I win, you have to do one thing that I tell you to?" Troy nodded and Gabriella smiled. "This is going to be fun." He smirked at her.

"Don't be so cocky Montez. You haven't won yet." They stood next to each other, both equal distances from the opposite corner.

"Ready, set…" Gabriella took her time. "…GO!" They took off, running at full speed. After a few moments, Gabriella overtook him, getting ahead by at least three lengths. "Come on Troy, you can't even beat me?" She could almost hear him grinning.

"You're bluffing Montez. You have to get tired eventually." She heard the footsteps behind her, getting closer. She quickened her pace, the 'finish line' within view. She could see him beside her out of the corner of her eye. As she crossed over the final sidewalk square, she stopped short, throwing up her arms in victory; she appeared as though she just landed an Olympic dismount. She spun around quickly, and smiled at Troy.

Well, that's what she had planned on doing. Unfortunately, he was only a moment behind her and as she turned, he slammed into her, causing both of their bodies to go crashing to the ground on a stranger's lawn.

"Thanks a lot Tr-" She stopped. He had come down on top of her, pinning her body against the wet, green grass, and she just noticed how close their faces were. His hands were positioned on either side of her head, supporting most of his upper body weight. Her hands had ended up wrapping around his back, holding him close to her. He smiled down at her.

"Well, Montez, it would appear that you beat me. Congratulations. Now, what do I have to do?" Gabriella bit her bottom lip thoughtfully, and couldn't help but notice that he was making no effort to move. Her chest was rising and falling steadily, As she thought, she realized that his neck was craning towards her, ever so slightly, bringing his lips even closer to hers.

"You…you have to…I don't know…you get to do what you want to." He smiled and stood. Then, he offered her his hand and pulled her into a standing position. She nodded at him and tugged on the sleeve of her soggy sweatshirt. "So, what are you going to do?" He smiled at her.

"You'll see." He gently grabbed her shoulders and positioned her so that she was leaning up against the stop sign on this corner. She raised her eyebrows but he shook his head. "Relax. I'm not going to kill you." She blushed and looked down. When he finished, it was raining even harder, and there wasn't a dry spot anywhere.

"Okay, seriously buddy, what the hell are you doing?" Troy smiled at her as he stepped closer.

"Nothing, really. Just something I should have done a long time ago." He moved closer and placed his hands on her waist.

"What; molest me?" Troy chuckled lightly and shook his head.

"Not really…think harder." Gabriella shook her head.

"Troy, I don't get it." She brought her hands up to rest on his shoulders. "Can you just do it already?" Troy's smiled began to fade as he brought his face closer to hers.

"For a Scholastic Decathlon champ, you really are pretty slow…" Her eyes widened and she smiled.

"That wasn't very nice, Troy Alexander Bolton." He stopped.

"Oh, using the middle name, are we? You'll have to be punished for that…" He continued to lean towards her.

"What do you…oh…" She was quiet suddenly. Her hands moved to his face, gently stroking his cheeks with her thumbs. "You're a little wet…" He smiled slightly and then, she couldn't see him anymore. Her eyes had fluttered closed, awaiting the impact. And then it came; that feeling of someone else's soft lips pressing against your own. Her hands were still on his face as he pressed her against the pole. He attempted to pull back, but something inside Gabriella wouldn't let him. She pulled him closer, rubbing her tongue against his lips, deepening the kiss. It didn't really surprise him. She might have acted timid around others, but she was much more outgoing when he was the only one around. They pulled apart. Gabriella's eyes were still closed.

"Ohh…That was really nice." Troy smiled, resting his forehead against hers.

"So, I take it that you feel that same way…" Gabriella's eyes opened slowly and brown connected with blue. His eyes were unlike anyone else's she had ever seen. She didn't even know how to describe them. The eyes are the windows to the soul. That's what her father used to tell her. After he told her that, she found herself looking into peoples' eyes, just to see if they were willing to expose themselves to the world. And for someone who was constantly in the public eye, Troy was surprisingly open. She could often read him like a book.

"…and how do you feel?" Gabriella asked. Troy held her gaze.

"I think…well, I think I lo-like you. I think I like you a lot." Gabriella smiled meekly.

"Well, that's a shame," his smile faded, "because that's not how I feel," she said. His ocean blue eyes were suddenly stormy and dark and his head snapped back, away from her. Her voice was quiet and shaky. "I know I love you." She felt sick to her stomach and wanted to run away, but something wouldn't let her. It was either the fact that Troy had her pinned to the stop sign, or it could have been that her legs had turned to jelly when he kissed her. The storm in his eyes swiftly cleared and the twinkle was back.

"Damn it, Brie. You're just full of tricks aren't you?" Gabriella couldn't help the grin that was spreading across her face.

"So, do you still think that you like me?" she asked, her fingers teasing the hair that was matted against the back of his neck. His forehead rested against hers again, bringing their lips closer and closer together.

"Nah, that ship has sailed. Brandy Debbs was looking really good in English the other day…" Gabriella's mouth fell open and a few drops of rain water splattered against her cheek.

"Oh, really?" Troy let out a chuckle and Gabriella felt his breath against her face.

"Well, you always were the jealous type." Gabriella stuck her tongue out at him.

"I am not!" He fingers casually looped themselves through the belt loops on her jeans. The wet denim felt good against his fingers, although, he didn't quite know why. Maybe it was because they were her jeans; maybe it was because it was simply her.

"Yes you are. Remember when you wouldn't talk to me for, like, three weeks? Chad told me it was because you were jealous that I said Jessica Connors' skirt looked nice. And by the way, about that, I literally meant the skirt. I wasn't talking about her ass." Gabriella's face turned an unnatural red color.

"I can't believe Taylor told Chad that! And I can't believe Chad told you! I shouldn't have even been jealous; we weren't dating." She pouted and Troy's eyes flicked down to her exposed lip. He couldn't help himself. Within seconds, his lips were on hers, pressing against her gently, testing the newfound waters. She kissed him back gently and melted into his arms. He pulled her into a hug, his arms around her, her hands pressing against his chest.

"I love you," he murmured into her dripping wet hair. She picked at his shirt and smiled to herself.

"You'd better, because if I hear one more word about Brandy Debbs, I will hurt you." He chuckled and gave her a gentle squeeze.

"Brandy is nothing compared to the girl in my arms right now. This girl, the one in my arms, she's beautiful, smart, funny, and she's got great taste in guys…No, I'm kidding. Well, she does, but that's not what I was going to say. I was going to say that she's got a great body…Sorry, once again, true, but not what I was going to say. She's got a great heart." Gabriella giggled and felt a blush creeping back on her face.

"Yeah, well, there's this guy…He's totally cute, no, scratch that, totally hot, and he's smarter than people think, very athletic, and I'm head over heels in love with him." Troy laughed at her open statement and she blushed.

"Well this totally hot guy's head over heels in love with you too." Gabriella smiled, rubbing her fingers against the damp material covering his chest. There was silence around them, the only sound being the rain drops as they splashed to the ground. They stood together, gripping each other, in the pouring rain, wishing they could stand there forever.

"So where are we?" Gabriella asked quietly, breaking their silence. "Where do we go now?" Troy sighed, rubbing circles on her back.

"We go back to being awkward friends with a secret burning desire for each other." Gabriella frowned, looking up at him. "No good?" he asked. "Alright, let's try again. How about we become secret lovers, unknown by our friends?" Gabriella rolled her eyes, poking his chest softly.

"Try again." He chuckled, gently swaying from side to side.

"How about I take you out for dinner? And then I'll tell you how much you really mean to me and you'll blush. And then I'll kiss your hand and you'll blush again. And then we'll go for a walk and you'll kiss me and I'll blush. And then I'll say, would you be my girlfriend, and you'll say, I'll have to think about it. And then I'll start chasing you around and I'll catch you and kiss you and you'll say, Yes, I'll be your girlfriend if you'll be my boyfriend." Gabriella grinned.

"That would be beautiful and all, but how about you just ask me now?" Troy chuckled and stepped away from her. He got down on one knee and held onto her right hand. She let out a burst of laughter and looked away from her ridiculous best friend.

"Gabriella Montez, I've known you for a while know and I like to think of you as my best friend. But now, I would think to think of you as more. Would you do me the honor of…oh…hold on." He stopped, pulling his class ring off his finger. He held it up to her. "Would you do me the honor of becoming my girlfriend?" Gabriella giggled happily, pulling him into a standing position.

"Of course I will." He slipped the ring onto her finger and pressed his lips to hers. She melted into his arms, twisting her arms around his neck. When they pulled apart, Gabriella stepped away from him and examined the ring on her finger. "Troy, are you sure you want to give me this? It's beautiful."

"Yeah, you are." Gabriella blushed as Troy began to lead her back to his house. "Of course I want to give it to you." They walked back to his house, pressed together in a feeble attempt to stay warm. When they got to his house, Gabriella borrowed fresh, not wet, clothes to go home in and an umbrella. Troy made her promise to wear the ring every day and she beamed, delighted that he wanted to flaunt their relationship a little. At least he wasn't ashamed of it. He'd held her up at both his bedroom doorway and his front door. She couldn't tear herself away from his lips. She'd pined for them for so long and now, they were finally hers.

Troy watched her skip giddily down the block, swinging her bag of clothes over her shoulder, umbrella in hand. Neither cared that she was, once again, in possession of his sweatshirt. He chuckled at his new girlfriend; she was so innocent. He sighed happily as he shut his front door. Finally. After he retreated to his bedroom, he turned to his dresser, grinning as he let his fingers run over the Twinkle Towne frame. After all those weeks of waiting, building up courage and searching for the perfect moment, it was done. She was finally his.

Gabriella giggled to herself as she collapsed on her bed in Troy's sweatpants and tee shirt. She inhaled his scent again. As she crawled under the covers and pulled her knees up to her chest, she reflected on the past months. It felt like she had known Troy for years when, in reality, she had only known him a few months. Knowing Troy Bolton for a week was enough to change your life, she decided. There was something special about the boy with the golden smile; everyone knew it. She fingered the hem of his shirt and blushed.

"Maybe I'll forget to return this too."

That's all folks. (I just love Looney Tunes, don't you?)

Whoa…I made it 4,074 words long! That's a personal record, I think. Sorry, anyway…

I attempted, once again, to write something decent. So, what do you think?

♥Zanessa-Troyella-Obsessed♥