Author's Note: I know you guys waited really long for this chapter, but it took me forever to get my reviews and thinking straight. It's the last one, so hopefully it leaves you guys on a good note with me! Thank you so much for helping me get through this story, I dedicated Hate My Next Door Neighbor to you. Always, schoolgirl 101
Chapter 31- Kiss Me
One Year Later
"Troy!" Gabriella screamed at the top of her lungs. "Look what you did!"
"Stop yelling Gabriella. Do you want me to be deaf? I'm right next to you." Troy rolled his eyes at Gabriella.
"You--never mind! I just can't stand it when you sound like you don't care." Gabriella whined.
"Am I supposed to care?"
"Yes, yes you are Troy!"
"Well, I don't." Troy smirked as he took another slurp from his drink.
"I can't believe you Troy!"
"Chill Gabriella. I didn't mean too, alright?"
"You're the one who just spilled smoothie all over my shirt! It's my favorite shirt Troy!" Gabriella argued.
Troy glanced quickly at Gabriella. Sure, there was a huge red stain on the white shirt, but it didn't look so bad, right? Troy's eyes moved up to Gabriella's face and looked deeply into her eyes. Her eyes were shooting daggers at him, and Troy blinked.
Troy's eyes flashed back onto Gabriella, and he began to laugh.
Gabriella looked at Troy angrily and scowled. How could he be laughing at something like this? Gabriella took one look back into Troy's eyes, and she too began to laugh.
"Troy!" Gabriella gasped. "This isn't supposed to be funny!" Gabriella said as she restrained a giggle from coming out and punched Troy lightly in the shoulder.
"But it is Gabs," Troy grinned. "I can't help but laugh at that face. It looked like you thought it was the end of the world because of a little stain."
"Little?" Gabriella laughed. "It's huge Troy! And I liked this shirt."
Troy smiled and intertwined their fingers together. "I love that shirt too Gabs," he admitted. "But it's only because..." Troy said softly.
"It's mine."
Gabriella's eyes widened and looked down at the stained t-shirt. She began to laugh harder. "You're right. It's yours Troy."
Troy shook his head and looked into Gabriella's twinkling eyes. "You know Gabs, you have like half of the clothes that I own. Pretty soon, I won't have any shirts left."
"I can't help it if I like them," Gabriella said her cheek turning a light shade of pink. "They remind me of you."
Troy smiled smugly as he looked at Gabriella. "That would make sense."
"It's not funny Troy!" Gabriella laughed as she grabbed a pillow from Troy's bed, and hit him with it.
"Oh, but Gabriella, it is!" Troy laughed as he grabbed a pillow and smacked Gabriella on the side of her face.
Troy knocked Gabriella's balance, and Gabriella screamed softly as she toppled over Troy.
Gabriella's breathing began to reach a normal pace as she held onto Troy.
Troy smiled and looked back at Gabriella. "You remember the last time our pillow fight ended like this?" Troy asked.
Gabriella nodded and looked into Troy's deep blue eyes. She leaned closer and kissed him softly on the lips.
Flashback:
Gabriella grinned evilly as she thumped Troy on the head with his white pillow. "Oh...you're so going to get it this time, Troy!"
"Not if I get you first!" Troy laughed as he swatted Gabriella with a different pillow.
"Ow...Troy," Gabriella mumbled as her back hit Troy's bedpost.
"You okay Gabs?" Troy asked as he looked at Gabriella with concern.
Gabriella smiled before hitting him again with the pillow. "You're a softie Troy! You can't help falling for 'poor damsel in distress,' huh?"
"I object to that!" Troy said defending himself. "One, Troy Bolton is not a softie. And two, you aren't a damsel."
Gabriella gasped as Troy jumped onto his bed and hit her once more.
"Troy!"
"And yes, I went there!" Troy declared.
Gabriella stuck her tongue out and Troy and ran towards him to jump on top of the bed.
"Troy, Gabriella, dinner!" a voice said from down the stairs.
Gabriella jumped and clumsily tripped over a discarded item on the floor.
She landed on top of Troy.
"Sorry," she mumbled softly and blushed.
Troy laughed at Gabriella's sudden shyness at him. "No problem Gabs," he said leaning over to kiss her lightly on the cheek.
"Want to eat?"
Gabriella nodded.
The two bounded down the stairs, and sat down in the empty seats left over.
"Hello Troy," Ms. Montez said brightly.
"Hi Ms. Montez," Troy smiled as he squeezed Gabriella's hand lightly underneath the table.
Yes, it was Troy's and Gabriella's weekly dinners with each other. After all, they're neighbors.
"You and Gabriella seem to be spending a lot of time together Troy," Mrs. Bolton announced. "I never see you without Gabriella."
"I agree." Mr. Bolton said.
Troy laughed and nodded. "Yeah, Gabs, is so much fun to be with. Turns out we had more things in common then I thought."
Gabriella looked up from her plate and nodded shyly.
"I always knew that Gabriella was the perfect girl." Jack Bolton said. "So very sweet and kind."
Gabriella looked away and blushed.
"Oh but it's true Gabriella." Laura Bolton smiled. "You're wonderful."
"Thanks," Gabriella replied embarrassed.
"It's a shame you two aren't dating." Maria Montez confessed.
Gabriella's eyes went big, and turned to look at Troy.
Troy began to cough wildly, and set his water glass back down. He cleared his throat. "Sorry, I was choking...on the water."
"Oh...no." Mrs. Bolton said looking at Troy and Gabriella carefully. "Please don't tell me,"
Gabriella looked up at Mrs. Bolton's stunned eyes and nodded slowly.
Silence.
"How long?!" Jack Bolton roared.
Silence.
"Answer Troy!"
"Um...three weeks dad."
Silence.
"You two went three weeks without telling your parents?" Maria Montez flinched slightly.
Gabriella and Troy looked up mortified, but nodded.
"Well, we only have some things to say to you two." Mr. Bolton said.
"You guys shouldn't be keeping any secrets from us." Laura Bolton said.
"This is something important that we should know about." Maria Montez declared.
"But most importantly..." Jack Bolton said slowly as he began to make his point.
"Congrats."
End of Flashback
Gabriella smiled happily at the memory as her body lay on top of Troy.
"As happy as you are Gabs, your kind of crushing me with your weight." Troy smirked.
Gabriella made a face at Troy but slowly got off of him. "We went through a lot together...in a year...didn't we?" she murmured.
Troy thought back and nodded. "I guess we did. We went through our parents, our friends, and the school's opinion about us. I mean...wow."
"You've changed Troy," Gabriella managed to say. "For the better."
"And it's always because of you."
Gabriella wrapped her arms around Troy and kissed him quickly on the lips before pulling away. Troy groaned and deepened the kiss.
The two seemed to do that a lot lately. Kiss.
Gabriella loved the feel of Troy's lips on hers. There weren't words to describe it, but it was good. Better than good. It was...it was Troy.
"Gabriella," Troy muttered as he slowly pulled away from Gabriella.
"Hmm?" Gabriella asked as she glanced at Troy.
He smirked.
"What?" Gabriella asked.
"You got smoothie on this shirt too!" Troy said pointing to his own shirt.
"Am I supposed to care?" Gabriella said satisfied with her answer.
Troy's mouth hung open and Gabriella smiled.
"Kiss me," she said softly.
Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight
Lead me out on the moonlit floor
Lift your open hand
Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance
Silver moon's sparkling
So kiss me
Troy grinned and leaned in towards Gabriella.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
And that...is what love is all about.
THE END
Last Author's Note: This is the longest author's note of my life, but I would especially like to thank the reviewers who reviewed more than once. Congrats to Princess Sparkel15 who reviewed to me every single chapter! They are (forgive me for incorrect spelling): Note: Parentheses is how much reviews were sent
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