A/N: Hi everyone! First of all, HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE! WOOHOO! I'm so extremely excited for tomorrow, and tonight, because I'm going to spend it with my best friend in the whole entire world, and we're going to make cookies and sing and dance and yeah. I love Christmas Eve. Love. it. And for people who don't celebrate Christmas,

HAPPY CHRISMAHUANNAKWANZIKAH! (sorry if I totally misspelled that)

So, I hope you guys have the most awesomest holiday ever. This is not the last chapter because I have something else planned for the next chapter. Which I haven't written yet, but hopefully I'll think of something. I'm sorry for keeping you guys waiting (not updating yesterday) but my brain wasn't functioning. This chapter. Eh, I'm not quite sure if I like it too much, but I mean I don't know. Let me know what you think.

I think I might scribble out a Christmas one-shot for tomorrow, or update tomorrow. One of those. :D

So, yeah! Happy Holidays if I don't get the chance to say it tomorrow, and well, REVIEW :D

Oh! I almost forgot! Thanks to these amazing reviewers who make me smile everytime I read them:

Gabbylynn93, 12superstar, .girl.t.g, stardust, , superstar22, xdude.i', 1HSMWiLdCat, glaceauxfraises, karebarekeke, and HSMandChelseaFCfan.

And karebarekeke, I want that cookie. :D

SO ENJOY :D

Gabriella was a planner. Gabriella was not spontaneous. However, bringing a stranger into her home at midnight from a club was pretty spontaneous…and slightly dangerous.

"Nice home," Troy commented while peeling off the scarf and his thick outer coat. The apartment wasn't really that big, but it had a homely feel to it, and smelled like vanilla peppermint. It just screamed her.

"Thanks," Gabriella muttered. She was freaking out on the inside. What the hell had she been thinking? They had reached her apartment, and he had sweetly pecked her on the lips. Awkwardly, yes, but sweet. Then, out of the blue, she asked him if she wanted to come in, knowing perfectly well that she had an early class tomorrow, and knowing perfectly well, what "inviting in" was insinuating. Plus, she didn't do "out of the blue". Gabriella Montez, ever since the age of five, has not done "out of the blue".

What. The. Hell.

"Tea?" she asked while making her way into the kitchen. Troy nodded and settled himself down on the couch.

Who drank tea? He didn't. Not at all. He thought it was possibly the most disgusting drink on the earth. However, he would drink anything if it meant being with Gabriella. He glanced around. On the walls were pictures of her and other people, probably family and friends.

Suddenly, he heard a crash come from the kitchen, and bolted up. "Need help?" he called out.

"Please?"

Troy walked into the kitchen to see Gabriella on the floor, surrounded by various pots and pans. Troy smiled at her defeated look when pointing to the tea pot resting on the highest shelf.

"I don't normally keep it up there, but my friend came over and put it there in an effort for me to leave the house," she mumbled.

Troy nodded and helped her up before reaching with ease, and grabbing the teapot. Smiling as he imagined be her 'knight in shining armor,'

"Thanks,"

As she made the tea and they proceeded back into the living room, Gabriella yawned.

"Tired?" Troy asked, pretending to sip from the cup.

"Mmm. Sorry. I don't usually stay up this late," she said before realizing how much of a teenager she sounded. Troy chuckled at how cute she was.

"If you want me to lea-"

"No, it's fine!" Gabriella said quickly, strangely liking the feeling this stranger had on her. She yawned again. "I just. Mmm. I'm really tired,"

Troy wrapped an arm around her and brought her head to his shoulder. "Sleep," he said as she rested her head onto his chest and snuggled into him.

"Mmmk,"

Gabriella woke up to the bright and glorious lights shining upon her. She spotted the clock and nearly had a heart attack. It was 9:30! Why didn't her alarm clock ring? She looked around and realized she wasn't on her bed, and the events of last night raced back into her mind.

Shit.

Shitshitshitshitshit.

She pushed Troy's arm wildly and began freaking out.

Troy woke up when he felt his arm being nearly flung out of his socket. The first thing he saw was the angel he met last night, jumping up and down anxiously. He yawned.

"Have to pee?" he asked and sat up. Gabriella whirled her head around and screamed suddenly.

"You're…awake" she stated. Troy nodded and stretched.

"Good morning sunsh-"

"Oh. My. God. I'm in so much shit. I'm late for class. I have to go," she said before bolting into her shower and almost jumping in with her clothes on. After probably the fastest shower of her life, she ran out of her bedroom and grabbed to see her checklist for today. After reviewing that she has lost at least three precious hours from waking up late, she let out a frustrated yell. She had already missed the two classes she was supposed to take today. Next, she was supposed to be baking toast for the sandwiches at the Soup Kitchen. She ran out the bedroom in sweats to see Troy calmly sitting on her breakfast bar, peeling a banana.

"Why are you peeling a banana!?" she asked.

Troy shot his head up. "Oh, sorry, I was kind of hungry and-"

"AH!"

Gabriella has never felt this way before. Her plan. It was completely ruined. For the first time in seventeen years, something accidental had happened. Something she had not planned. Then, it had messed up her checklist. It felt like her perfectly balanced life was now rushing down the drain. She would never be able to finish medical school now, and she would never be able to balance school, volunteering, and everything else. It felt like her world had collapsed, the perfect framework of her life. She had this gut-wrenching feeling inside her stomach, knowing that she couldn't keep everything completely in line.

Troy saw Gabriella anxiously begin to jump around again, and he offered her the banana.

"Banana?"

Gabriella almost ripped the banana from his hands and shoved it into her mouth before collapsing onto the floor, almost in tears.

Troy immediately got off of the chair and sat down by her. "Hey, you ok?" he said, soothingly rubbing his hands up and down her back.

Gabriella sniffled and was very close to wailing, but understood that, although she felt she had connected with this man, he was still a stranger when it came to sobbing hysterically on his shoulder. She couldn't speak and when she opened her mouth, she choked on a sob.

Troy seemed to understand and pulled her closer to him. "Shhh, it'll be ok," he said, realizing that she probably wouldn't want to talk to him now. "Come on, I know something that'll make it all better,"

An hour later, Gabriella and Troy were sitting under what Troy called his "Freedom Fort," which consisted of a bunch of blankets hurled around Gabriella's living room, covering things. They were leaning against the couch while sitting on the floor while Gabriella was sipping tea and Troy (after searching tirelessly) found coffee and was drinking it.

Gabriella sighed, and looked at the man sitting beside her. He was so perfect in every way. Sure, she had just met him, but she never felt this connection before. He had taken away her fears and just soothed her under the thing he called his fort. Gabriella giggled at how child-like he was.

Troy turned his head at the sound of her giggle. "Feeling better?" he asked, shifting a little so the arm wrapped around her was tracing circles on her shoulder.

Gabriella nodded and leaned into him.

"Wanna tell me what's wrong?"

Gabriella sighed again, and she set her tea mug on the floor, hoping that it wouldn't spill. She turned herself so she could look at him directly.

She pulled a folded piece of paper out of her sweat pants and put it in Troy's hand. "My life revolves around that," she said.

Troy, hoping it wasn't a picture of another guy, opened it and saw it was just a simple list of things.

"It's a checklist," he remarked. Gabriella nodded.

"I-I'm meticulous. I'm annoying. I plan everything to the last detail. Everything on the checklist must be checked off," she said, beginning to feel frustrated again. She rested herself back against the couch to try and calm herself down.

Meanwhile, Troy wasn't sure what was going on. It was just a checklist. He was sure millions of people had it.

After a while of silence, Gabriella looked at him again.

"I can't be with you," she said.

Troy felt his heart break right there. "Wh-what?" he asked quietly. "Why not?"

Gabriella sighed. "I-it's not on the checklist," she said.

Troy groaned. "What's up with you and the checklist?" he asked.

Gabriella thrust her hands into her hair. "It's everything, Troy. You know what happened with you here today, Troy? I didn't check off the first two! I'll never be able to check those off! It'll be the first time in over ten years that I haven't been able to check everything off of my checklist!"

"…and it's because of me?"

"YES!" Gabriella said. "Last night, I was supposed to sleep at eleven-thirty because I had an early class this morning, but something about you clouded my judgement. I ended up talking to you for another hour! Then, I ended up inviting you in, and then we fell asleep on the couch, and I missed my classes!"

"They're just classes!" Troy said, feeling some kind of anger from being denied rise up.

Gabriella groaned. "It's not about the classes! It's about the checklist and how my life is no longer stable!"

Troy looked at the checklist in his hands. It seemed to burn him. "It's about this? Gabriella, you can't plan everything in your life! Things will happen! Things unexpected and things totally random will happen! You can't plan all of them!"

Gabriella sat quietly and looked at Troy, tears beginning to swim in her eyes again. So many people had told her that before, but somehow, Troy saying it made her feel different. She really felt something with Troy, but she knew it would get in the way of her life.

"For once, Gabriella, realize you can't plan everything!"

Gabriella contemplated it. If she hadn't gone to the club like she had tried not to, she wouldn't have met Troy. If she hadn't have talked to Troy at the bar, she wouldn't have felt the butterflies swishing around all over her body. If she hadn't invited Troy in, she wouldn't have fallen more and more in whatever she was feeling now with him. She looked up at him.

"Troy. I really like you,"

Troy's heart soared.

"But, it's my checklist, my balance, Troy," she said.

He felt his heart plummet down. "Fuck your checklist, Gabs," he said, trying to get through to her again.

"I-I can't" she said.

Troy crumpled up the checklist he was holding and heard Gabriella gasp in shock. "Fine," he said. "But look at your checklist, and I'll think you'll find that, as much as you didn't want to, I fit in at number sixteen,"

With that, he threw the checklist down and moved out from under their fort. "See you later, Gabriella," he said.

She began to cry again and heard the door slam closed on its way out. Dejectedly, she crawled and retrieved the crumpled piece of paper and opened it, gasping at number sixteen.

Fall in love.

Did she love him? Granted, she felt a strange attraction to him. She felt that they were something special. She really liked him, like really really really liked him. Was she ready to throw it all away, just because of a checklist?

She scrambled out from under the canopy she and Troy had made before running out the door, looking madly for the dirty blonde who had captured her heart.

"Troy!" she shouted and began running down the stairs and finally onto the main street. She didn't spot him anywhere. The loudness of the busy street mixed with the rush of people around her and she frantically darted her head left and right, hoping to catch some glimpse of him. Feeling utterly devastated, she turned to go back inside before hearing her name.

"Gabriella?"

She turned around and saw Troy, standing there, coming out of the coffee shop right next to her apartment building, holding a mug of coffee.

"What-"

"No offense but the coffee sucked at your place," Troy said, smiling as he saw Gabriella holding up the rustled piece of paper in her hands.

"Do-do you mean it?" she asked, all of a sudden, focusing on number sixteen.

"I don't love you, Gabriella. Not yet, at least," Troy said while walking towards her. "But I know I will,"

Gabriella looked at him and saw him look at her. "You can't say that you don't at least want to try,"

"I do," Gabriella muttered before grinning at him. She smiled and ran up to him while he wrapped his arms around her waist, dropping the coffee. She breathed in his scent and realized that she wouldn't have minded just staying in his arms forever. She pulled her head out from his neck and met his lips with hers.

"So no more freaking out?" Troy asked when they had pulled apart.

Gabriella agreed.

"And no more of this 'I can't be with you' business,"

Gabriella nodded.

"And one day, Gabriella. I promise, I'll love you. You can check that off your checklist,"

OK, this chapter was 2160 words, but it definitely looks really short. Hmm, idk. Anyhoo. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope my brain will function enough after all the delicious food and Holiday craze tonight that I will be able to write something totally awesome for tomorrow.

Again, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

C: strawberriesandsunshine