A/N:
Hey guys! So here's my second English oneshot, and I ask you to keep in mind that I'm only 16 and not really experienced in writing in foreign languages...

I 'd really like to thank all my reviewers for "Never Ever" It was a pleasure, reading your kind feedback and acknowledging that my English is not that bad ) Love you all for bearing with me and reading my stories:-

By the way: When something is written in italics, it means, that the characters think something Just wanted you to know that beforehand :P

Disclaimer: Like always: I own nothing except for the plot... sad isn't it?

Working magic

Sunshine. Fun. Beach – your average associations with the word "Summer", wouldn't you say? Usually , yes, but not for a certain dark brown haired girl. When she heard the word "Summer" right now she thought more of "Flu, cold, runny noses" and things like that.

That's right: While the Wildcats gang hung out at the beach, having the time of their lives, Gabriella lay in her bed, wrapped in a couple of blankets, fighting a persistent cold. 'That's not fair...Jeez, that sucks...', the sick girl thought sad.

And why wouldn't she think so? How could being at home alone be fair, while your mother jetted around the world with her new boyfriend and all your friends spent time together swimming, building sand castles or playing volleyball?

Gabriella sighed depressingly. She really wanted to go shopping with Sharpay for new bikinis, she really wanted to help Zeke with his newest creation of cookies for picnics for their daily trips, she really wanted to beat Chad in a game of basketball, or rather one on one and show him that girls rule and boys drool, she really wanted to hear the newest gossip, that Taylor once again heard at some random event but most of all, she really wanted to spend time with her all time best friend Troy Bolton.

Her counterpart and herself have grown incredibly close throughout the whole "Twinkle Town" thing.

They did nearly everything together ever since day one: She tutored him in math, while he helped her working out a bit, in order to get better in P.E. classes. They shared lunch because Gabriella loves Mrs. Bolton's PB & J sandwiches, in return Troy almost daily stayed for dinner at the Montez's household, as he loves Spanish food. Moreover, every Friday, Troy and Gabriela had their "special day", which basically meant watching chick flicks for Gabriella and after that a horror film to satisfy Troy.

They didn't hide anything from each other. He knew her strengths, her weaknesses, her fears, her wishes and vice versa.

The only thing they successfully kept from each other were their true feelings hidden beneath their strong friendship.

Ever since the musical, Gabriella was madly in love with her best friend. She admitted to having a crush on him even after the callbacks. Only to Taylor, of course. But back then, she had no clue, how deep her feelings for him truly ran. At first she thought it might only be an infatuation, but no. She was in love. Ever since that one fateful moment.

The moment when she learned, that his kisses could work magic:

At this, she had a small coughing fit and for once she couldn't say, if it was because of her flu or in order to hide her blush at the thought of the feeling of his lips on her skin.

He hadn't even kissed her on the lips, it was just a small innocent kiss on the forehead but to her it meant the world:

FLASHBACK

It happened on the opening night of "Twinkle Town" and of course Gabriella was nervous as hell.

Compared to her current state , on callbacks day she had been absolutely calm.

She paced around her dressing room, biting her lower lip, small tears shining in her eyes, as their was a knock on the pink door – of course Sharpay got to choose the dressing room color as some kind of "Thank you" for her help in preparing Gabriella for her first musical.

Gabriella watched the door anxiously through a blur of tears and called shakily: "Y-Yes?"

The door opened slowly as Arnold a.k.a. Troy poked his head inside and looked at his best friend.

He frowned as he discovered her nervous as ever and - to his dismay - in tears.

"Brie... don't tell me you have second thoughts about all this? Come on... you did perfectly during rehearsals... Always remember: Just like kindergarten! We're all in this together, right?"

Despite all her fears, Gabriella managed a small chuckle, wiped away her tears, approached Troy and hugged him : "Second thoughts? Darling, you sound like we're about to attend our own wedding..."

Troy smirked down at her. 'Darling' was her special nickname for him. At first she seemed uncomfortable calling him that, but after a while, she seemed to take in the fact, that he liked his new nickname and settled for it and often remarked, that it sounded cute.

"Who knows, who knows, Brie... One day I'll make you my very own Mrs. Troy Bolton." he grinned and winked at her. She gasped dramatically in mock disgust and took one step back "Oh, please..anything but that! Mrs. Lunkhead basketball man... has a nice ring to it though, don't you think?", she smirked and poked her tongue at him.

At this, Troy began to tickle her mercilessly but stopped as he finally got, what he longed for: A tight embrace and a genuine and sincere smile, one that she seemed to save only for him.

"Thank you, Troy..."

He smiled and tightened his arms around her waist as he took in her appearance: A nice dark blue gown, that hugged her curves just right and ended right above her knees: The perfect length.

Her hair flowed freely down her back and she only wore a light make- up , which added to her natural beauty. All in all, she looked just perfect and more beautiful than ever to him..

"What for, Brie? I didn't do anything special!" She nudged him slightly and looked up and into his cobalt eyes.

"For always being there for me and for helping me overcome my fear! I don't know, what I would do without you!"

He showed her a cocky, playful smile before nuzzling her neck slightly and answering: "Hey! That sounds like you do wanna be my wife, eh?"

Gabriella couldn't resist. At first she blushed furiously but after all she just burst into laughter and literally tugged him along.

But her laughing fit found a sudden end, as she felt a pair of unfamiliar lips pressed to the skin of her forehead. She faintly smelled his cologne, as her thoughts revolved around the fact, that his lips could be so strong and masculine, but soft and loving at the same time. He must have felt, that she went rigid at the sudden motion and pulled away slightly to gaze into her eyes, with a look of pure concern on his face.

And as he asked in a hushed whisper: "Are you alright?", she knew that she was in love.

FLASHBACK END

She sighed at the pleasant memory and tried to turn onto her side to reach out for her medicine.

'The constant flirting and teasing hasn't become any less' she mused in her thoughts,as she took a sip of her coke in order to drown the disgusting taste of the medicine in her mouth.

"But it's not like he'll ever truly mean it...", she mumbled quietly.

"Schizophrenic much, Montez?" , asked a grinning Troy leaning against the doorway of her room.

"WHOAAAAH!!! Troy?!!! What are you doing here? In my room? Wait – shouldn't you be at the beach??"

"Heeeey...slow down there...one question at a time, OK? First of all: I'm here to keep you company, thought you could use some, eh? Don't want you to go all schizophrenic on me by spending the whole day on your own" he smirked as she rolled her eyes.

"If you're only here to tease me, you might as well leave right away, Bolton", she replied in mock anger.

He only laughed, approached her bed and sat down.

"To answer your other questions: Yes, the gang is at the beach, but obviously I'm not because I don't want you to feel left alone and I enjoy spending time with you... In sickness as in health", he sang the last part dramatically.

Gabriella had to laugh really hard. "There you go again with that marriage stuff! You really wanna make me yours, eh?" she winked at him. She had a small coughing fit and he affectionately rubbed her back. 'You have no idea, Brie... Absolutely no idea.' , Troy pondered, as he loosened the blankets around Gabriella a bit and lay down beside her.

"Sooo...what were you dreaming of, when I watched you from the doorway?"

"Oh I was... WAIT! You were here the whole time? All along?!"

He chuckled a bit, tipped her nose and said: "Yeah... I even got to see that dramatic sigh of yours... ".

She only sighed to mock him and snuggled deeper into her pillow: "Jeez...you're such a tease!"

He laughed and replied grinning: "Maybe, but that sure as hell doesn't answer my question."

She blushed lightly and answered mumbling: "Well... I was thinking of the opening night..."

He looked astonished but smiled a genuine smile, while putting his arm around her, so that she could rest her head on his chest. He played with her brown curls and occasionally twisted one of her strands around his index fingers.

"What exactly were you thinking about? The way we rocked on stage, the way we ruled the after party or the way your knight in shining armor made your fears go away beforhand?"

He felt her petite body vibrate against his from laughter. He smiled and let his other hand, that was not occupied with her hair, rub the small of her back

"Knight in shining armor? Hmmm... Darling, you helped me a lot, but don't go all cocky on me", she answered still slightly chuckling.

His heart began thumping more loudly when she called him "Darling". It always gave him some kind of special feeling.

He smiled to himself and planted a loving kiss on her hair while tightening his embrace on her.

Gabriella went rigid this instance. There it was again. His lips. On her skin - or rather hair in this case.

The feelings inside of her could match some kind of roller coaster ride. And all that just because of him and his little kisses.

Of course her reaction didn't go unnoticed by Troy, who wore that same look of concern on his face, that he had worn in her dressing room on opening night. The look that made her fall in love with him even deeper.

"Brie... are you alright? Is something the matter? Do you need medicine or something? Jeez... that's some strange kind of cold!"

She couldn't help but chuckle at his dense response and turned a bit so that she lay beside him on her side, her head braced on her hand.

She smiled softly at him and ruffled his hair. 'Maybe it's time to come out of your shell, Gabi... It's not that hard, and you can always say it was because of the cold and you were just confused or something...'

He looked curiously at her but smiled as she affectionately ruffled his hair. He grabbed her hand and began to trace circles on her palm.

Gabriella braced herself one last time and answered: "I thought of the kiss you gave me before the show."

As she stared into his cobalt blue eyes to see some reaction to her answer, she could see how his pools of blue started to darken a few shades at the thought of this kiss. He smiled slightly and moved a tad bit closer towards her body and put one arm around her waist to keep her from moving away.

He lovingly grazed her nose with his and husked: " And what exactly do you think about this small kiss?"

Her breath got caught and her throat went dry as her eyes flickered to his lips.

And he chose that exact moment to moisten his lips with his tongue to make them even more irresistible and kissable.

She looked back and into his eyes to see the darkest shade of blue she has ever seen in them and slowly opened her mouth to say something but found, that she couldn't find her voice.

His whole being, his smell, his appearance, the look in his eyes, the way his lips formed that flirtatious but sincere smile of his: It was just too much. His impact on her was just too much.

So she did the only thing, that she could think of that same moment, moved the last bit towards him and finally connected their lips.

It was all she dreamed of and more. Slowly her eyes fluttered close and the last thing she saw before she entirely gave into his charms was his own pair of eyes shut tightly

He immediately responded to the kiss, that the both of them had been waiting for so desperately for almost half a year.

After having tested the newfound waters, he opened his mouth, silently begging for more.

And without hesitating for a single moment she let him in and found herself being rolled onto her back.

She felt his weight above her, but she found that she really couldn't care less. She absolutely enjoyed the fact of being closer to him than anybody else has ever been. Both physical and mental. She loved him with her whole being and wanted him to know that for sure.

They only pulled away when air became a vital matter and stared at each other breathlessly.

He found himself attracted to her even more, when he watched her disheveled, dazed form beneath him.

She reached her hand behind his neck and pulled him down towards her, so that their lips barely touched.

She brushed her lips against his and felt him shiver with delight.

He couldn't resist and kissed her thoroughly once again.

When they parted he rested his forehead against hers and breathed:

"Brie... Te quiero, mi corazón...Your lips truly work their magic, baby."

She slightly chuckled at his faked Spanish accent, and a broad smile made its way onto her face, as she listened to his confession.

And the last thing she said before closing the gap once again, was: "Likewise, Troy... Likewise..."

A/N: Sooo...that's it, guys I hope it could live up to your expectations!

I actually think it's really cool, that writing in English doesn't seem to be as difficult as I feared it would be! And I actually think about writing a Zanessa oneshot in the near future, but I don't know if you would like to read one written by me :P

But I really love the Zanessa pairing, so I'll think about it...

So:

I'd appreciate it if you reviewed! And tell me if you'd like to read a Zanessa oneshot:)

Lotsa love from Germany, yours truly

Mona