True Identity, a high school musical fanfic

True Identity

Summary: A writer for the New York Times' Sports section and a movie executive find themselves together. In her own mind, she knows he's a player but that doesn't stop her from meeting up with him and getting to know his true identity. (T&G) One-Shot.

A/N: Sorry I haven't written in ages. I'm seriously stressed with exams that start on Wednesday (I have two that day which is stressing me out more) but I couldn't sleep last night so I wrote this about 2am to try and relax.

I won't say much here about the story because I don't know what to say that won't give away the plot. Hope you like it. Please read and review! Thanks. xx

Disclaimer: I own nothing; never have and never will unfortunately.

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Sighing as she sat alone drinking her drink, the young woman looked around the club at all the people. Smiling, she wasn't down she was alone but more relieved. For the past six years, since her senior year of High school to be exact, she had been dating the same guy, the same guy who for the past few years has bored her out of her head. At first their relationship had been accepting but the past few years, it had been practically over, each of them too busy with their own lives and careers. And now at last she was free.

This was a rare opportunity for the man stood at the bar. He rarely had chance to go out and enjoy himself like this and the only reason he was here tonight was because of his parents stepping in to intervene. His life had been crazy the past few years with not only some of the happiest moments in his life but also a tragedy which had changed him forever. As much as he appreciated being able to be here, he felt somewhat awkward; almost as if he'd forgotten how to have fun like this and be a normal guy. This scene just wasn't for him anymore.

Finally getting the courage, the woman sitting alone earlier decided to grab one more drink, for dutch courage, before she would make her way out to the dance floor to find a guy to dance with.

"What can I get you?" The bartender asked as the young woman ordered a re-fill. Opening her clutch, she was about to pull her money out when a voice spoke.

"I'll get it and I'll have another beer." The man next to her said while the bartender nodded.

"Thanks?" Smiling unsurely the girl closed her clutch again.

"Troy." He held out his hand as Gabriella took it. Cerulean and chocolate eyes focused only on the other; their hands lingering together.

"Gabriella." The two smiled as the bartender placed their drinks on the bar, causing them to break their hands. Troy paid for the drinks. "Thanks."

Troy nodded. "No problem. So are you here alone?"

"Yeah. Trying to build up the nerve to actually get out there." Troy found his eyes roaming over her face before taking in her body. She was curvaceous in all the right places and in his eyes, she looked like angel.

"What brings you here alone? I'm sure you don't normally go out to places like this alone." Shrugging, the brunette got closer to him so they could hear each other slightly better.

"I just got out of a six year relationship and I'm celebrating my freedom. How about you? You alone?" Gabriella asked as she too let her eyes wonder over his defining facial features, her eyes especially taking in just how gorgeous and captivating his blue eyes were before scanning over what had to be one of the most amazing physiques she had ever seen; and that was with clothes on so she couldn't even begin to imagine what he must look like with none on. Coughing, Gabriella couldn't believe that idea had even crossed her mind.

Troy noticed Gabriella blushing but ignored it. "Yeah I'm alone. I don't really do this much anymore as I don't have any real spare time." Gabriella nodded in understanding.

"Well Troy, I don't know your last name, would you like to join me out there?"Troy laughed.

"It's Bolton. And yes Gabriella, I don't know your last name either, I would be honoured." Gabriella shook her head as he grinned at her.

"It's Montez."

"Well, Miss Montez, let's go." Troy placed his near enough empty bottle back on the bar as did Gabriella as Troy grabbed her hand and led the way to the dance floor.

Five hours later and a completely drunk Gabriella and Troy made their way out of the nightclub at two thirty five am. They had spent the whole evening just laughing, dancing, drinking and talking about the most random things. Stumbling into the backstreet, Gabriella was pushed up against the wall, Troy right in front of her to keep her there as they kissed each other like no tomorrow.

"Come on, my apartment down there." Gabriella giggled as she pointed in one direction while Troy kept attacking her neck with kisses. Pulling away from her, he let her guide him in the direction of her apartment, going in the complete opposite direction to which she pointed.

The next morning, Gabriella woke up to the rays of sunlight peering through her blinds, immediately regretting opening her eyes. She turned over to find Troy awake as he watched her. All last night's memories filled her head as she closed her eyes and moved closer to him.

"Just so you know I don't make a habit of sleeping with random men I meet when I've only known them a few hours." Gabriella mumbled as Troy chuckled, hearing the tone in her voice.

"Don't worry I don't either." Gabriella raised an eyebrow at him as she looked up.

"Well good to know. I'd be worried if you slept with random men you've only just met."

Troy rolled his eyes. "Quite the comedian, aren't we?"

Gabriella shrugged smirking. "I try."

Before Troy could speak again, his phone started ringing. "Sorry." Gabriella smiled as he climbed out of the bed and slid on his boxers before trying to locate his phone in his jeans. Pulling it out, Gabriella watched as his face seemed to light up at seeing the id. "Hey Sophie, can you hold on just one minute?" Troy then turned to Gabriella who was watching him. "Is it ok if I just take this downstairs for a minute?" Gabriella nodded as he walked out of the room and left Gabriella alone.

Once Troy was safely out the room, Gabriella fell back against the bed frowning. Who was this 'Sophie' woman that seemed to immediately make him smile? Deciding it was probably no-one she grabbed some fresh underwear and her sweats before disappearing into her bathroom to change. As much as she tried to forget it, last night, even if most of it was a bit of a haze thanks to her alcohol consumption, had been amazing and she had been absolutely correct earlier on in the evening when she had taken in his physique and knew what must have been underneath was enough to make any woman swoon.

Troy had grabbed his t-shirt as he'd walked out the room along with his jeans which had still been in his hands as he located his phone. After hanging up, he sighed as he slipped his clothes back on before meeting Gabriella who had just descended down the stairs.

"Coffee?" Troy nodded but immediately regretted it feeling his head throb even more than it was doing so already.

"Make it strong; I think I'll need it." Gabriella indicated for him to follow her into the kitchen.

Filling the kettle and flicking its switch, Gabriella moved to sit next to Troy on one of the stools at the island in her kitchen. "So... where does this leave us? Are you going to disappear soon and we'll never see each other again or do you want to be friends or what?"

Troy watched as Gabriella rushed her sentences out and couldn't help but smile at how cute she looked. "Whoa, slow down. I don't think I can think that quickly with this hangover." Gabriella looked down bashfully. Lifting her head so she was looking at him in the eye, Troy smiled. "I don't regret last night one bit but you need to know I'm not really ready for anything serious so I think friends is the best option, if that's ok with you?" He told her, giving her reassurance "At least until we know more about each other." Troy added.

"That's probably a good idea. I mean all I know is your Troy Bolton. Heck I don't even know how old you are or what you do or anything." Gabriella realized. "Oh shit. For all I know you could be some pervert." Troy laughed.

"Definitely not a pervert here." The two laughed. "I think it's safe to say we both probably shouldn't drink that much ever again."

"Very true. Thanks for not being some disgusting old man that took advantage of the situation last night."

"Erm, you're welcome, I think. And same to you for being so gorgeous and not an old woman or underage kid instead." Both sat in silence before the kettle clicked off indicating it was done. "Yeah I don't do well with awkward silences."

Gabriella giggled. "Me neither."

"How about we take this opportunity to find out about each other?" Troy suggested as Gabriella came back over with his drink before grabbing her own and putting the things away.

"Ok. So Troy, how old are you?"

"Twenty eight. You?"

"Twenty six."

"Really?" She nodded. "I would have thought maybe more like twenty one, twenty two."

"Thanks, I think." Gabriella smiled. "So what do you do?"

"I'm a writer for the New York Times. Sports section."

"Cool. I'm a movie executive producer." Gabriella informed him timidly. She always felt embarrassed when she told people what she did even though she loved her job.

"I should have guessed it was something extravagant with a place like this." The conversation carried on flowing between the two as the morning wore on, not even stopping as they did themselves some breakfast. For the first time in a long time for both of them, they felt truly happy having someone who they could talk to so comfortably.

After exchanging numbers later that morning, Troy left Gabriella's apartment but not before giving her one last kiss which he said was a thanks for everything. Gabriella had just reached the bottom of the stairs in her luxury apartment, well penthouse apartment, as the doorbell rang. Hurrying back to answer the door in confusion, she was shocked to see Troy standing there.

"Look I don't know why I'm doing this but you wouldn't happen to want to go out for something to eat later, would you?" Troy asked as Gabriella felt her heart beating in a way she'd never felt before, including the whole time in her previous relationship.

"You mean like on a date-type thing?"

"Yeah, if you want it to be." Standing looking at the girl in front of him, the blue-eyed man waited nervously for her answer, hoping he hadn't just blown his chances with her knowing this was the first time in a long time he'd felt like this so quickly for someone.

Smiling, the brunette nodded. "Pick me up around seven?"

Troy felt like pumping his arms at her answer but refrained from doing so. "Ok. See ya later, Ella." Gabriella smiled at the nickname Troy had given her already before he placed a kiss on her cheek and disappeared from her site. For some reason, she couldn't wait to see him again because even though it had only been a few minutes since he'd gone, she already missed him. And that thought scared her.

It was six fifty and Gabriella was putting the final touches to her outfit. She was wearing a simple black thin strapped dress that stopped mid-thigh, low cut to expose enough cleavage but not too much and paired it with her favourite black knee high heeled boots and a black leather jacket. She'd text Troy earlier on asking what she should wear and he replied with smart/casual so she just hoped what she'd chosen would be ok.

At precisely seven o' clock, the doorbell rang and she buzzed Troy up. As she collected all her things and quickly put them in her black clutch purse, she took one last glance in the mirror at herself, making sure her curled hair and make-up was still ok before opening the door for Troy.

Troy was stood outside her door waiting for her to open the door. Turning as he heard the door click open, he felt his breath catch in his throat.

"Wow." Troy breathed out. "You look fantastic."

Gabriella giggled seeing the look on his face. "Thanks. You scrub up nice too." She observed his black pants and white short sleeved shirt, the top few buttons open, and his black blazer draped over his arm.

"Ready?" He asked and she nodded, taking his awaiting hand after locking up and lacing their fingers together as they made their way down to the lobby. "Hope you don't mind but I thought we could catch a cab." Gabriella smiled in understanding knowing just how inconvenient it could be at some places to park.

The two were walking through Central Park quietly. The whole evening had been running smoothly so far. Gabriella couldn't believe how content she felt with Troy and just hoped that what she was feeling wouldn't fizzle out. It was scary but she could seriously see herself having a future with him and that was only after knowing him properly for half a day. She just hoped as well what she was feeling, he too would be feeling and that she wouldn't just be some fling to him. It confused her how only a few weeks ago she wasn't interested in getting back into a serious relationship but in the last twenty four hours that had all changed. She wanted a real relationship with Troy but she wasn't about to admit that to him yet, scared he might be freaked out by that and might walk out of her life for good.

"You warm enough?" Troy asked, feeling the cool winter's breeze blowing around them.

"I'm good. Thanks." Gabriella couldn't help but grin feeling Troy slip his arm around her waist as their fingers broke apart and brought her closer where she could rest her head against him as they walked.

Gabriella inwardly groaned as his cell interrupted their peaceful walk.

"I have to get this." Gabriella nodded as he removed his arm from her and walked ahead so she didn't hear him. The one thing she did hear was 'Olivia'.

"Great, there's a Sophie, me and now an Olivia. I wonder how many other girls he's dragging along." Gabriella started to lecture herself at how wrong it was to be allowing herself to feel the way she was towards some guy who obviously thought he could be some sort of modern day Casanova.

"Ella, I'm so sorry but I have to go. Will you be ok getting back?" Faking a smile she nodded.

"Yeah it's fine. Just go." Troy nodded at her and took off towards the main street as Gabriella frowned. He hadn't even given her a peck on the cheek like he'd done this morning. But she wasn't going to let herself get hurt; she was determined not to fall for Troy Bolton full stop.

So much for that plan. It had been three days since Troy had left and Gabriella hadn't seen him or spoken to him. Not that it was his entire fault as Gabriella had been avoiding his calls and texts. She thought the best option was to break contact for Troy if she didn't want to get hurt but instead she found herself falling even harder for him knowing he was trying to contact her. Finally after having given up and deciding she had to do this face to face, Gabriella pulled a piece of paper from her clutch which held Troy's address. She was going to talk to him about his player ways if it was the last thing she did.

Walking up the driveway to a big, but not too big, house, Gabriella found herself taking a deep breath before ringing the doorbell. Hearing muffled voices, Gabriella knew Troy was obviously home.

"Hey." Troy eyes widened in genuine shock seeing Gabriella there but at the same time, confusion shining through too.

"Hey." The two stood their awkwardly not knowing what to say. Breaking that silence was a third voice.

"Daddy, who's that?" Gabriella looked away from Troy to the young girl beside him in surprise.

"Daddy?" She half whispered, unsure if she'd heard correctly.

Troy looked down at his daughter giving her a look. "Can you go back inside please?"

"Daddy?" A fourth voice came. Gabriella turned to another young girl who'd appeared on the other side of him. Both girls had sandy coloured hair just like Troy's as well as his blue eyes but their skin tone slightly paler than their father's.

"Well aren't you going to ask her in, silly?" The girl who'd appeared first said.

"Gabriella, this is Sophie," he pointed to the girl who'd just spoke. "And this," picking up the second girl that appeared, he smiled, "this is Olivia." Troy placed a kiss on Olivia's head as Gabriella stood there in genuine shock.

"Sophie and Olivia." She whispered to herself as the two phone calls Troy had received when he was with her suddenly made sense to her.

"Daddy!" The girl, now identified as Sophie, said in an annoyed voice.

"Oh yeah, come in."

"No, it's ok. I can see you're busy. I'll call you later." Gabriella protested but Troy shook his head.

"It's fine honestly. Come in." The three stepped aside as Gabriella entered the house. She smiled seeing toys over the floor.

"Follow me." Sophie told her as Troy nodded and followed behind her with Olivia in his arms. "Here we are. Would you like to sit down? You can sit by me if you like." Gabriella smiled at Sophie.

"How about you and Olivia take Gabriella's coat and hang it on the stairs?" Troy suggested at his confident daughter. Gabriella slid her coat off as the two girls disappeared from sight.

"You never told me you had kids. What about their mother? It isn't fair to them you leading me on." Gabriella looked at Troy slightly hurt.

"I'm not hurting them or their mother, try w-i-d-o-w-e-d. Four years." Troy spelt out obviously not wanting Sophie or Olivia to hear.

"Oh." Gabriella looked at him embarrassed at what she'd said.

"Don't worry. It's ok. You didn't know." Troy reassured her, giving her hand a small squeeze with his own.

"Daddy, can we have our hot chocolate now?" Sophie asked as she and Olivia returned.

"I think that can be arranged." Troy lifted both of the girls into his arms and threw them over his shoulder as they giggled, Gabriella following Troy as he went into the kitchen.

Gabriella was sat on the sofa in the living room, watching as Troy interacted with his kids.

"Gabriella?" Gabriella smiled at Sophie. "Do you want to come and see the tent we built?"

"I don't know." Gabriella said unsurely, not knowing how she should be towards Troy's kids.

"Please, Gabriella, please." Olivia said, looking at Gabriella too. Troy grinned and rolled his eyes at his daughters.

"I don't think Gabriella really wants to come in your tent." Troy told them.

Gabriella watched as they looked down disappointed. "Go on then." She told them as they looked at her excitedly.

"Really?"

Nodding Gabriella stood up. "Yeah why not." Sophie grabbed her hand while Olivia grabbed her other and Troy followed behind shaking his head.

Arriving at the door at the top of the stairs, Gabriella smiled as she read their names on the door. "Here we are." Sophie pulled Gabriella in and she looked amazed. It was a make shift tent that was being held up by some sticks, with a sheet over the top and some fairy lights inside.

"Come and lie inside." Olivia pulled her towards the opening as Sophie lay on one end, Gabriella lying next to her, Troy next to her and Olivia on the other end.

"Wow, it's like a princess tent, isn't it?" Sophie and Olivia giggled with Gabriella as Troy smiled.

"Gabriella, you're very pretty." Sophie told her as she leaned up on her arm and twisted so she was on her side.

"Well you're very pretty too. And you, Olivia." Gabriella told them.

"You know you're the first girl friend of Daddy's that has been in here." Sophie told her.

"Really?"

"Yep. He never brings friends round that are girls around. It's nice. I like having you here, Gabriella." Gabriella looked at Troy and smiled. He discreetly moved his fingers to Gabriella's as they linked their fingers as the four lay there quietly.

Sophie and Olivia were now asleep in bed which left Troy and Gabriella alone for the first time that evening.

"I'm sorry about tonight."

Gabriella shook her head at Troy. "It's fine. I had fun."

Troy sighed. "Not just about tonight though. I should have told you sooner about them."

"Why didn't you then?"

Troy shrugged. "I guess I didn't want to risk them getting hurt. I've never known how to be 'daddy' and find time for a new relationship."

"How old are they?" Gabriella smiled at Troy seeing how obvious it was he loved his kids.

"Sophie is seven, Olivia four. She was only three months when Leigh died." Troy could see Gabriella was hesitating but knew what was on her mind. "She had cancer. We knew she didn't have long left but that didn't hold us back from starting a family. It was the one dream she had always wanted since she was young."

"I'm sorry."

Troy shook his head. "It's fine. I don't mind talking about it because I know she wouldn't want me to feel I couldn't bring our kids up not knowing about her." Gabriella moved closer to him and rested her head against his chest letting him know she wasn't going anywhere. "I'm sorry that I couldn't come see you the past few days or take you out but Olivia's been ill. That's one of the reason's she has been quiet this evening."

"It's fine. Honestly." Gabriella put her finger over Troy's lips to keep him quiet. "I want you to know, if it's ok with you obviously, that this doesn't change anything between us and I still want to see where this leads." Her eyes fell to her lap not knowing if Troy still wanted what they had to continue.

"Look at me." Troy whispered softly. "I want to find out where this leads too still but are you sure you can cope with the fact I come with baggage."

"Troy!" Gabriella slapped his arm smiling. "Those girls are not baggage. They are the sweetest kids I've ever known."

"Are you also willing to accept the fact that what happened the weekend and things like going out of a night are like a rarity? My kids have to come first. The only reason I got some freedom last weekend was because my parents decided to take them for the weekend so I could have some time alone but that doesn't happen often and normally when it does, I'm catching up on work or domestic stuff."

"Troy, I don't care. If our dates consist of going on picnics in a park or playing dollies, I don't care. All I care about is spending time with you." Gabriella assured him, holding his face in her hands so he could see how serious she was. She wasn't going to quit on him just because he had kids.

"Thank you." Troy leaned forward and kissed her softly before pulling back. "I don't want to rush things either because I haven't been in a relationship since Leigh died. And even with Leigh, we were together for over ten years since we were fourteen so all previous relationships don't even class as relationships."

"We can take things as slow as you like but I'm not sure if what we did the other night counts as slow." Gabriella smirked as Troy rolled his eyes. He knew he was falling for the brunette in front of him and unlike a few days ago when he was scared at the prospect of doing so, now he wasn't.

It had been three years since Troy and Gabriella had met. The relationship between them had gone from strength to strength. After getting a lot closer within the first three months of their relationship, Troy had finally asked Gabriella to be his girlfriend, obviously only after having gained permission from his daughters. Gabriella accepted that any decisions the two made had to be passed by Sophie and Olivia first as neither wanted them to get hurt.

Eighteen months after they got together, Gabriella was over at Troy's with him, Sophie and Olivia after starting up having regular 'sleepovers'. Sophie was cuddled up with Gabriella while Olivia was with Troy. Slowly, the two had started getting used to having a motherly figure in their lives and loved Gabriella more than anything. Gabriella too had become adjusted at being viewed in a maternal role after she and Troy had a serious conversation about how Troy needed to be certain she could handle taking on that responsibility with his kids. As they had lay there watching a movie, Sophie spoke up and asked something that surprised both Troy and Gabriella. She asked her father if Gabriella could move in with them. Neither of them had been able to find any words at first but soon told Sophie they would think about it. And that's exactly what they did for all of five minutes when Troy repeated the question and Gabriella replied with a yes.

After having moved in, Troy found he was seeing Gabriella in a whole new light. She wasn't backing out of anything she'd said previously and it really hit home to Troy when Gabriella told Troy she would take and collect the girls from school to give him some times to catch up on his work. Gabriella had also confided in Troy how even though she loved her job, she found herself wanting to spend more time at home with him and his children and absolutely hated it when she had to go away for work for weeks at a time.

That following Christmas saw Troy finally work up the courage to ask Gabriella to marry him. She, of course, was shocked but accepted. Sophie and Olivia had proudly boasted to Gabriella how they helped their daddy pick out her ring because they wanted her to have the prettiest ring ever. Six months later and the two were married in a fairly low key wedding with only their closest friends and family attending; Sophie and Olivia Gabriella's bridesmaids.

And now three years later, Gabriella couldn't help but smile as she looked back over the past few years and how her life had turned out.

"Hey." Two familiar arms wrapped around her waist as she leaned back against Troy.

"Hey. Where are Soph and Liv?"

"Upstairs. Where'd you think they'd be?" Troy rolled his eyes as Gabriella smiled. Sophie was now ten and Olivia seven. The two girls were still just as gorgeous as before and knew that it was ok to talk about their mom even though they had Gabriella now who they had recently started calling 'Mom'. Troy was grateful Gabriella had accepted how important it was to him and Leigh that their girls knew about their mom.

"Hey Mom." The two turned to see Olivia walking through the kitchen door with Sophie following behind.

"Soph, did you really need to bring him down?" In Sophie's arms was her six weeks old baby brother, Oscar.

"He was about to start crying so I thought I would bring him down rather than making mom have to go back up to him." Gabriella and Troy had been shocked to find out about Gabriella's pregnancy just weeks after they got married. They'd never really talked about having children in the future and to be honest they were more scared of how much of an impact it would have on Sophie and Olivia. But surprisingly, it seemed to have been more of a shock to the two adults than Sophie and Olivia who were so excited when they found out they were getting a new sibling.

"Thank you." Gabriella smiled at her three children; after getting married, she and Troy had agreed that she would adopt them so that she would legally be their mother.

"You, Mrs Bolton, need to go and rest because I'm not letting you over do it." Troy warned seeing his wife yawn. Sophie and Olivia nodded in agreement with their father. "Come on." Troy pulled her towards the main room where the now family of five sat down and relaxed together, content with their lives.

At twenty nine, Gabriella had never imagined she'd have everything that she ever wanted; a husband and a family. And nothing would ever match just how good that felt.

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A/N: So if you didn't already realize, this was based on the film 'The Holiday'. I was watching 'The Holiday' last night when I got this idea. I didn't want to say it at the top because if people have seen it, it would probably have been a real give away.

Just in case anyone is confused on the title, I couldn't think of a good one originally and came up with 'True Identity' because of Troy having not told Gabriella about being a father. Just thought I would clear that up now. Hope you like it. Please review because I would really appreciate some feedback on this one since I haven't written in a while! Thanks! xx