I always thought, no, wished that Troy would just return after they say their goodnights after the surprise picnic at Gabriella's room so I wrote down how I wanted it to happen. Really Disney, I think you guys should let ME write some scenes next time. I'm sure quite a few fangirls would apprecite that XD On with the story, hope you enjoy! (It's for Elli's category btw in the Zaangels write off. And yes, I know, shocking it's not M-rated, huh? XD)

Proper goodbye

By Jojo

The couple giggled as he tricked her into kissing her cheek. They stared deeply into each others' eyes, hands intertwined between their bodies, the false cheerfulness slipping away almost instantly. The teenager stood by Gabriella's open balcony doors, a very light breeze slipping past them and inside the room but they didn't notice. Nothing existed outside their little world at the moment.

Her cheek burning from his kiss, heart breaking silently but determined to keep it hidden from him, she reached out for his face, tangling her fingers softly through his hair, cupping his ear and then keeping her hand still, just enjoying the contact and the feel of his soft strands against her skin.

So many things were left unsaid, waiting on the tip of their tongues to come out and be discussed but both were too afraid to voice any of their concerns, wishes, fears, longings… They both knew what was about to come, more sooner than later and the knowledge of this impending goodbye hurt almost as much as the goodbye itself doubtlessly will. But still neither voiced their worries, almost as if a silent contract between the two told them to not speak about it until the day was there.

"You ok?" Her soft voice asked reluctantly, eyes always locked while her fingers absentmindedly rubbed the back of his head in a desperate attempt to maintain the closeness between them even for a moment longer and hoping to comfort some of his distress.

Troy quickly put a smile on his face and nodded twice, meaning to reassure her if nothing else. "Yeah."

He knew he would have to leave as quickly as possible before the intense aching inside his chest could make him do something they would both regret later. Although the words hurt even before he uttered them, he forced the unconvincing smile to stay in place while he breathed them out and slowly moved back. "Good night."

Her throat burned as she watched her hand drop and the boy that had grown to mean the world to her walk away. "Good night." Her answer was merely a whisper. There was an underlined goodbye in their parting for the night and both knew it. It hurt more than they could ever have imagined but they kept silent to not prolong the other's pain.

He held the eye contact for a moment longer before turning around, climbing over her balcony and down the familiar tree without looking back once while everything inside of him screamed at the boy to just turn around, take her in his arms and never let her go. But he knew he couldn't do it, her future was too important to him and he didn't want to make this any more difficult for her as he already had.

The shivering girl stepped forward and watched him slowly descend the tree and walk over her back yard to his car, wishing she could simply call him back, let him hold and console her and make her forget all her worries and fears, even if it was only for one night. But she couldn't do that. She already felt beyond horrible for hurting him as much as she had and she couldn't blame him for wanting to escape.

Her incredible grief found a way past her swollen throat and before she knew it, she was singing the tunes of a semi familiar song to voice out her pain before she exploded.

I guess I should've known better, to believe that my luck has changed
I let my heart and forever, finally learn each other's name.
I tell myself this time is different. No goodbyes, 'cause I can't bear to say it
I'd never survive the one that's coming, if I stay, Oh no

Troy hit his steering wheel with a groan of utter frustration as the ignition didn't catch. Forcing himself to take a couple of deep breaths to calm down and get back under control, he got off the car, slamming the door behind him and started walking home, not caring about the old, unreliable truck, only needing to get away as quickly as possible, hands shoved rigidly in his pockets while his mind reeled.

Just walk away and don't look back.
'Cause if my heart breaks, it's gonna hurt so bad.
You know I'm strong but I can't take that.
Before It's too late. Oh, just Walk Away!
Walk, Walk, Walk Away. Ooh, just Walk Away!

Gabriella felt the tears trickle down her face but she tried her hardest finish her song before she would allow herself to break down completely.

Ooh, I've got to let it go.
Start protecting my heart and soul.
Cause I don't think I'll survive a goodbye again. Not again!
Oh, Walk, Walk, Walk Away!

Walk Away, Walk Away, Ooh.. Ooh..

She sat down on her bed, hands clutched in the fabric of her dress right over her heart as she tried to keep it from bursting, eyes blank, breath caught in her throat. She waited mutely for it to happen.

The girl didn't dare breathe, move or even blink, knowing she was standing on a sharp cliff on her bare tiptoes and was inevitably about to fall down any second. Unthinkingly, her eyes darted over to the picnic basket still on the blue carpet and a gasp painfully forced its way out of her lips.

A second later, her vision blurred and sure enough, unstoppable tears were streaming down her face and heavy sobs were let loose. She fell back on her bed, trying to compose herself even though she knew it would be in vain. The pain spread through her whole body and she curled to her side, trying vainly to keep the destruction zone as minimal as possible.

Through the tears she saw on her nightstand the picture of her and Troy touching foreheads while holding hands and gazing lovingly into each others' eyes. She clearly remembered the sunny day at Lava Springs where the picture had been taken, remembered the happiness they had shared that day and it cut only deeper in her chest. It was so unfair that just when she found what truly made her happy she had to let it go again.

Her breath caught in her throat painfully and new tears followed the wet path down her cheeks. The sobbing increased and she wished so desperately for some way to make this pain go away.

"Gabriella?" A soft voice broke through the haze and startled her so much her heart skipped a beat or two. She groaned inwardly, hoping she was only imaging his voice because the other alternative would be too horrible to picture right now.

She slowly turned to the still open doors of her balcony and there he stood, panic and worry contorting his beautiful features as he stared at her with big, blue eyes that seemed to swim as if they really were ocean waves of a cloudy day . This time she groaned out loud and turned back to her fetal position. "Go away." Please.

Just Walk Away!

Fresh tears began to fall and new sobs started to shake her chest. Her only hope was that a) he would go and not look at her lose control over everything in her life and that b) she would eventually run out of tears and be so exhausted she would fall asleep, hopefully dreamless. Although she probably deserved the nightmares for hurting the people she loved, including the one she loved most.

The crying girl gasped out loudly in between sobs as a warm, trembling hand landed on her exposed shoulder, gently rubbing over the goose bumps that covered her skin. She buried her head in her pillow since the tears and sobs wouldn't stop, it simply hurt too much. Half heartedly she wished he would just walk away and leave her to her own pain, not wishing to add more to his.

He rubbed over her bobbing shoulders in silence, trying to calm her down while sometimes gently brushing over her hair. Pain, fear and worry were clutching his chest in a tight grip and once he tried to pull her on his lap to cradle her but she wouldn't move. The concerned boyfriend decided to let her calm down on her own and not push her but every minute that passed with him watching her in pain hurt him even more.

Eventually and after what seemed like hours instead of minutes, she calmed down enough to control her sobs and lay still, not changing her position to face him, a few silent tears still dripping down her cheeks. He skidded closer to her on the comforter, now sitting behind her in the middle of the bed, still stroking her arms to keep her warm while hiding the concern as her ice cold skin refused to warm up. After more silence, the boy couldn't take it anymore.

"You're going." His whisper was more of a statement than an actual question, though neither anger or joy was behind it.

Another sob caught in her throat as she finally turned to look at him miserably. "Troy…" she whispered his name and had his name more than one syllable it would have broken midway.

"Shh." He quieted her with one finger pressed against her lips, the sorrow in her eyes almost more than he could stand. "It's going to be all right, you will see."

She shook her head stubbornly back and forth. "How can it?" her low, creaking voice whispered incredulously but the longing in her eyes that desperately wanted to believe him was unmistakable.

He cupped her face with both his hands, rubbing the traces of her tears away with his thumbs while his endless eyes dove deeply into hers, holding her gaze captive. "Because you'll do so great in Stanford. Because you'll have an amazing future and you'll find tons of friends there. Because they will all love you too there and…" he trailed off for a second, his thumb now outlining her quivering lower lip. "…because you mean more to me than anything else. That's why I know it's going to be all right."

Gabriella stared at Troy wordlessly for what seemed like forever and before he knew it, she had flung herself into his arms, new sobs emitting from her as she tried to hide her face in his chest while holding him as tightly as her arms would allow. "Oh Troy…"

"Shhh." He gently tried to calm her again, rubbing her whole back now while at the same time holding her as close to him as he could. Silently, he made a promise to himself that he would not let her see how miserable he was by the prospect of having to ever let her go, spend a day without holding her in his arms, without touching her warm skin or smell her intoxicating scent. No, today was all about her and making her feel better.

"I don't deserve you." She whispered into the nape of his neck, still crying but holding on to him for dear life. "I'm such a horrible, selfish person."

"No, no you're not! And you deserve so much better than me." He stated matter-of-factly and she once again shook her head, lips pressed together in a stubborn gesture as she pulled back a bit to look in his face, deciding to ignore his absurd statement for the time being.

"I keep hurting the people I care about most."

"You just have to do what's best for you." He argued back, brushing back a few loose strands of her hair that clung wetly to her cheeks.

"How can it be what's best for me when it…" her soft voice broke off as she quickly looked down at her hands that she had now folded in her hands. Her whisper became even lower and she felt him rub the cold skin of her arms patiently. "…when it feels like the end of the world?" Desperate brown eyes were swimming again in moisture as they directed themselves towards equally pained blue ones and her voice was now so quiet he would have missed her next words if not for the proximity of their positions. "When I hurt you so much?"

"Oh sweetheart…" his heart broke at the devastated look on her face. He crushed her to his chest immediately as if trying to squeeze the pain right out of her and stroked the back of her head where he had it pressed against the hollow of his throat. "Shh, calm down. Don't worry about me, Gabi. It'll be fine."

"H-how can it be fine!" she shrieked, blank, irrational panic now clearly lancing in the voice of the girl who had always believed in rationality. "I'm not ready to let you go." She closed her eyes as if in pain and whispered the last part. "You mean too much to me."

He kissed her forehead emotionally, then her cheek. "We're going to make it work! Somehow we will, I pro-" She cut of his sentence with a quick finger against his lips, her gaze that met his almost shocked. She shook her head, scolding while a few tears leaked out of her eyes.

"Don't! You know promise is such a big word! Don't promise me things you can't be sure about."

The basketball captain stared deeply into her eyes, seeing the intensity of emotions, the pain and passion that mirrored the look on his own face. Even through her tear drenched face, complete with red, puffy eyes, glossy lips and messy hair, at this moment she was the most beautiful, radiant thing he had ever seen.

And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, it hit him. Hit him hard, like a lightning and everything fell into place in his head. Little stray pieces clicked together, finally making sense and telling him exactly what he had to do. He was abruptly more sure than ever before that he wanted this glorious being to be part of his life forever and that he wasn't going to let her go, either. Not ever. So, logically, he had to do something about it. And do something about it he would! As true as he was irrevocably in love with her.

He lunged forward without thinking about it and captured her lips in a passionate kiss that instantly robbed them of their breaths. His hands tangled in her hair as he held her head in place to kiss her more thoroughly, meaning to show her this way everything that he felt for her. After initially stiffening in surprise, she sighed and relaxed soon after, melting against him and fitting their figures together smoothly, her own hands falling to lay against his chest.

They pulled apart when breathing became an issue and Gabriella was suddenly glad the doors were still open as she enjoyed the cool breeze upon her heated features. She opened her eyes to direct glazy eyes at determined ocean blue ones, a little startled by the new kind of intensity she saw in them. He took her hands firmly between his and leaned his head down so their noses were touching as he gazed sternly at her.

"Gabriella, I do promise you I will do whatever I can to make sure this was the last goodbye we ever had to say. Please, you have to believe me."

The way he looked at her, the way he spoke left no doubt about his sincerity and at this moment she knew he was completely serious. Automatically but slower than before, her arms wound around his neck. Her wet and cold cheek met his heated one. "Troy…" she breathed emotionally against his ear, missing the shiver that coursed through his body. The girl sniffed once and pulled back so that their noses were touching again in an Eskimo kiss and stared into his eyes for another little eternity before finally speaking.

"I believe you." They were simple words, words that took a lot from Gabriella to say but to the young adults they meant the world.

Overcome by a sudden, intense wave of euphoria and affection, the boy crushed his lips to hers again, knocking her backward on the bed but always making sure to have her securely in his arms so she wouldn't get hurt. The kiss started out passionately and only grew in ferocity. They clung to each other desperately, never wanting to break the contact. This time, when the need to breathe took over, his lips didn't pause but kept kissing all over her face, the corners of her lips, her cheeks, along her jaw, down her throat and back up again.

She whimpered delicately, her fingers massaging his scalp while her insides burned. "T-Troy…" she gasped as she not nearly as gently as usual tugged his head up to meet her mouth again. They broke apart, both gasping heavily once more. "Please, Troy…"

"What?" His dizzy eyes snapped open, suddenly more tightly focused. They met hers again with a unknown heat that left her speechless for the time being. "What do you want?"

Gabriella whimpered once again and pushed her whole body up to his that was towering above her for the past minutes, dragging their bodies against one another erotically. Both teenager gasped out loud. "P-please…" she whispered in despair as she tugged at his head to make it bend down and kiss her again but this time he didn't budge. Reluctantly she opened her eyes to look at his confused face.

"Please…" she started again, more determined now. "Make the pain go away."

"You…" he stared at her shaken, throat suddenly dry as sandpaper and eyes as big as plates- not that he noticed. "You can't possibly mean that you want… to…" A bright blush found the time to color his cheeks. "…to… you know…" he trailed off, unable to finish his own sentence. Although he was shocked as all hell and certain he had misunderstood something, the young man was at the same time unspeakably excited at the thought alone.

She took a long moment to compose herself so that she could answer in a complete, grammatically correct, English sentence. "Yes, I do want… you." She stroked over his cheeks with both her hands, tracing his face in awe as if she'd seem him the first time. "Give me a goodbye I will never forget."

Anger suddenly mixed in his confused features and became the dominant emotion. "Stop saying goodbye!" He slammed his lips violently down, forcing her to accept the kiss that almost felt like educational measures. She was only too happy to oblige, her moan getting lost in his mouth. Her dress sneaked up as her naked leg sneaked around his back thigh, rubbing the texture of his pants and causing the boy to gasp out loud.

His forehead fell down against her neck and he needed a few deep breaths to calm himself down enough to speak while his breath against her suddenly over-aware skin caused the math genius to shiver strongly. "G-Gabi… I'm not sure this is-" She broke him off by rolling their bodies over so that she was now straddling him.

"Please…" she whispered near his ear that she then kissed before pulling back to look in his eyes, a delicate rose shade adorning her cheeks as she became aware of her current, dominant position that was so unlike her. But she ignored that fact and lost herself in the feeling of his firm stomach muscles through his sweater. Her tongue slipped out to wet her lips absentmindedly before their eyes met again, this time causing electric sparks to fly between them.

"Please Troy, if I mean anything to you, make me yours."

He returned the heated gaze for one long second before grabbing her hips and turning them around once more until he was on top again. "You mean everything to me." He managed to rasp out, his voice so thick with emotions it matched hers perfectly. Their hot lips met again with new, profound passion and desire that burned all other thoughts from their minds. Everything except for the other and both were fiercely determined to show their beloved one just how much they meant to them and damn what tomorrow would bring.

~*~*~

I feel kinda... incomplete and uncertain about this ending and for once am not so sure I did the right thing NOT writing out the scene... What do you think?

Btw, a HUGE THANK YOU and I LOVE YOU to all the amazing people who reviewed my other stories so much! I CAN'T believe how many review I could get for a Oneshot, so thanks a lot for not just adding the stories to your favorits without bothering to leave a review no matter how small, I REALLY truely appreciate that! Keep it up for this one too, please! THANKS SO MUCH you guys are the best! I'm so happy you like what I write!