A/N: Yay!! Two chapters in one week! Enjoy!

Just Good Friends

The next few weeks went by quickly for Troy. He stayed busy with work at Home Electronics and the basketball games at Stanford. He saw Sharpay often as she worked to get the half-time entertainment for the basketball games. After every game, the pair went out to dinner. Troy felt like he had a friend for the first time since graduating college. Gabriella was working so much and Chad was quickly becoming an important member of an out-of-state basketball team. Troy never felt like he had anyone to really talk to until Sharpay became a regular feature in his life.

When Stanford would win a basketball game, Troy would always treat Sharpay to dinner. When Stanford lost, she bought dinner for him to cheer him up.

"I'm kind of getting used to this free dinner thing," Troy said one night as they sat across from each other in Sharpay's favorite restaurant.

Sharpay smiled at him. "Well, I'm glad you enjoy it."

"Maybe we should switch it up. Let me buy you dinner."

Sharpay shook her head and leaned forward. "That wasn't the deal. When the team wins, you buy. When the team doesn't do as well, I buy. It's not fair to make you buy dinner after the team…well…you know…doesn't...."

Troy watched her for a moment before laughing at her discomfort. She looked back at him and smiled before laughing softly. "What?" she asked.

Troy shook his head, still smiling. "You can say it. We suck. We've only won four games."

"Well yeah, but out of…how many have you played?"

"A billion and one, I think. Yeah. At least a billion."

Sharpay laughed again and Troy found himself smiling wider as he watched her. He opened his mouth to speak again, but felt his cell phone begin to vibrate in his pocket. He furrowed his brow and pulled it out. It was Gabriella calling.

Troy looked at Sharpay regretfully. "I'm sorry, Pay. I'll be right back."

He bit his bottom lip as he stood, hoping Sharpay didn't mind as that little nickname rolled off his tongue. He had never called her that before but it felt so good when he did.

He stepped out of the private room they were in and answered his phone.

"Hey, babe," he said softly.

Gabriella's voice was smooth, but had a hint of frustration. "Hey, Troy. Where are you?"

Troy furrowed his brow, trying to remember if he was supposed to be somewhere. "I'm at dinner. I had a game tonight, remember?" He wasn't sure that he should disclose the fact that Sharpay was his dinner partner.

"Yes, I remember. Do you remember telling me that you would be home right after the game?"

Troy didn't recall that bit of information. She was always doing the same thing after his games—working. Sometimes she was even working at the office where she had her internship. Troy never imagined she would care that he was going out to dinner.

"I don't remember that, Gabi. I'm sorry."

She sighed heavily into the phone and he winced a bit. "We were going to sit down and talk about setting a wedding date."

Troy sighed softly. He vaguely remembered now. When Gabriella finally crawled into bed after he had already been asleep, he sort of remembered her mentioning the wedding. He thought that he had grumbled a reply, but he didn't realize it would keep him from tonight's dinner.

"I'm really sorry, sweetie. I'll be home soon, ok?"

"I guess. I just have to get some stuff done."

"Well, go ahead and work on it now. We can look at wedding stuff as soon as I get home."

That seemed to satisfy her because her voice was only sweet now, void of all frustration.

"Sounds perfect, baby. See you soon."

"Okay, babe. Bye," he said, anxious to get back to dinner.

"I love you," she insisted.

"Love you, too," he rushed.

They both hung up and Troy ran his fingers through his hair before going back to Sharpay. He sat down with a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry about that. It was Gabriella."

Sharpay nodded. "Of course. I understand." She studied his tired face for a few moments before frowning. "Troy? Are you all right?"

Troy looked at her a moment and contemplated her question. When had been the last time that someone had asked him how he was? He constantly dealt with other people's problems and stresses. He didn't really have time to assess his own.

Being the manager of an electronics store, an assistant coach to a college basketball team, and a fiancée was beginning to spread Troy a little too thinly. On top of that, he had too many customers that liked to complain and a team that couldn't win even if the opposing team was blind. Gabriella was busy when he needed her and demanded his time when all he wanted was to enjoy dinner with Sharpay.

When Troy finally spilled about all of the pressure he felt on him, Sharpay reached across the table and touched his hand softly.

"Troy," she started. "You are a great manager. They wouldn't have promoted you if they didn't think you could do it. While you do have customers that come in complain about things out of your control, you always find away to get them to leave with a smile on their face."

Troy nodded in agreement, his eyes glancing down to her hand on his and then back to her face.

She continued. "You are also a great coach. You care about the team and they know that you do. We're barely into the season. There is plenty of time to turn this thing around."

Sharpay smiled at him. "And, as long as you want me to, I'll be here for dinners to help you take your mind off of all of your problems."

Troy laughed softly. "Thanks, Sharpay. Your friendship really means a lot to me."

She kept the smile on her face as she looked down for a moment. "You know, you can call me 'Pay' if you want." She looked back up at him. "I like it." There was a soft blush on her cheeks that Troy found to be incredibly adorable.

"All right, then, Pay," he said, smiling wide. "I should probably get you home."

Because of the frequency of the games that week and the dinners that always followed, Troy just picked Sharpay up at her home before practice and dropped her off on his way home.

On the car ride home, Troy and Sharpay sang along to the radio and laughed. In this confined space, Troy could always smell her shampoo. It raised familiar feelings in the pit of his stomach, but he couldn't really figure out why. He just assumed he remembered it from high school.

"I really like your shampoo, by the way. It smells so familiar. It reminds me of high school," he finally admitted.

Sharpay smiled at him. "Thanks, Troy. That's sweet, but I didn't have this shampoo in high school. I discovered it right after we graduated when my family went to France for summer vacation. I've been having it imported ever since."

Troy furrowed his brow. "Really? It reminds me of something, then…I just don't know what."

"A good something?" she asked, a small, cute smile on her face.

Troy laughed softly and nodded. "Oh, yeah. Definitely."

When they pulled into the driveway, Troy saw her familiar pink convertible and a green car that he didn't recognize. He furrowed his brow and looked at her with question in his eyes.

She looked back at him a moment with a blank look on her face before speaking. "It's Ryan's car," she said, smiling now. "He stays with me sometimes when he's in town."

"Oh, okay. Well, tell him I said 'hi'." Troy smiled at her and unlocked the doors. "I'll see you Friday night?"

She nodded and opened the door, seeming distracted. "Yeah, Friday. I'll see you then. Thanks for the ride, Troy." She got out and shut the door. She offered him a little wave before going into the house.

Troy waited until she was inside with the door shut before he pulled out of her driveway. The entire drive home, he tried to keep his good mood up and prepare himself for Gabriella's wedding talk when he got home.

He pulled his car into the garage and got out, going into the house. Gabriella was sitting in their living room, lounging on the couch with an over-sized wedding magazine in her lap. She smiled up at him and shifted so that he could sit beside her. Troy actually felt happy to see her. He walked through the kitchen, tossing his keys onto the counter, then went to her and sat beside her, wrapping his arm around her.

"Okay, babe. I'm here," he started. "Let's talk."

Gabriella smiled up at him and kissed his cheek. "I want to get married this spring."

He raised his eyebrows. "Spring, really? That doesn't leave much time to plan, does it?"

"It gives us six months," she shrugged. "That's plenty of time."

Troy widened his eyes a bit. "Six months? You're so busy, babe. I'm not sure we could do it in that amount of time!"

Gabriella sighed heavily and got up, tossing the magazine into her empty spot. "Do you even want to get married, Troy?"

"Of course, I do!" he said, standing. He wasn't sure where this was coming from. He wanted to marry her, he just felt like six months from now would be too soon.

She shook her head. "Then why does it matter when we actually get married? Why can't we do it in six months?"

"If it doesn't matter, why can't we get married in 12?" he asked, but the look on her face after that made him realize that was the wrong thing to say.

She clenched her jaw and started to walk away. "I can't believe you, Troy. You're being really inconsiderate."

Troy went after her as she went down the hall towards their bedroom. "I'm not! I'm sorry. I just think six months is too soon."

Gabriella rounded on him quickly. "Who do you keep having dinners with?" she asked.

Troy was taken aback. He didn't realize that she even noticed he was gone. He opened his mouth to answer, but snapped it closed again. Lying by omission was one thing. Troy didn't think he could lie to her about who he was with, even if that meant that he might have to face her wrath.

"Sharpay Evans," he admitted, trying not to sound guilty, because he shouldn't feel guilty. "She arranges entertainment for our basketball games."

Gabriella just looked at him and Troy couldn't figure out exactly how she felt about knowing Sharpay was his dinner date. She just shook her head.

"I'm going to bed, Troy. I'll see you in the morning." She said it with a tone that said he wasn't invited to follow her. He sighed heavily as he watched her go into the bedroom and shut the door. He went to it and leaned against it.

"She's just my friend, Gabi," he spoke softly at the door, knowing she could hear him. "We work together and…" he trailed off. He was quiet another moment before stepping back. He went to the kitchen and retrieved his car keys from where they landed on the counter.

Troy got into his car and turned the music up, grateful once again for the superior sound system. He started to drive and didn't really realize where he was going until he pulled onto Sharpay's street. Once in her driveway, he turned his car off and sat for a moment, looking at her house. It was relatively smaller than the one he knew her parents owned in Albuquerque. He guessed it to be a two-bedroom home, three at the most. Her pink convertible was still in the driveway, but Ryan's green car was gone. He got out of his car and made his way towards her door, ringing the doorbell.

It wasn't until several moments later, and right before Troy was going to leave, that Sharpay came to the door, wrapping a pink robe around her slender body. She opened the door and stepped out onto the small porch.

"Troy? Are you all right?" she asked, frowning.

Troy looked her up and down briefly before looking into her eyes. "I-…. Gabriella and I got into a fight." He shrugged, not knowing what to say now that they were face to face.

"I'm sorry, Troy." She went to him and pulled him into a hug. He held onto her and buried his face in her hair, smelling that familiar scent again. They separated and Troy looked at her for a long moment before she made an apologetic face. "I can't invite you in tonight, Troy. I'm sorry. Not that I'm not concerned about you…I just…can't."

He smiled at her and nodded. "Of course. I should've just called. I just needed to get out. Don't worry about it, Pay."

She pulled him into another hug and then pulled back, stepping back into the house. "I'll see you Friday, okay?"

Troy nodded again and waved as he back off of her porch. "Friday. I'll be here." He turned around and walked back to his car, feeling like an idiot. He rested his head against the headrest and closed his eyes.

"She has a boyfriend, doesn't she?" he asked himself in the dark. He nodded in answer to his own question. "I'm so fucking dumb."

He started his car back up and left her house, feeling more terrible than when he arrived five minutes earlier.