Lost & Found

"There's…something missing."

Troy looked up, not exactly hoping for those three words. Old, seasoned brown eyes looked at him, with a thoughtful muse and a pen tapping against a sharp jaw line.

"Just…something."

There was some saying about patience…and virtue that Troy couldn't quite think of right now.

"…such as?"

His former mentor looked at him with a twinkle in his eyes, as if knowing drawing out the moment would put Troy on edge. He wasn't …"wrong" per se… but Troy would like to think of it as being eager and driven.

"It's missing the feeling of home."

"Fuck" Troy put down his pen, forgetting about the score sheets in front of him. His old mentor may as well just tell him his musical career was finished.

"Young man," the elder man chuckled, "It's not the end of the world."

"The movie's name is Coming Home, or whatever it is," Troy dead panned, "You're telling me it's missing the feeling of home for a composition I would like to be considered for a movie named Coming Home."

"Troy, music comes from the heart, from…everything around you. The sounds of laughter, the wind…the bird that took a crap on my car." Troy laughed. "This is good Troy, but it's missing something personal. It's missing the feeling of home."

The older professor handed the young man the USB,

"Take it home, really take it back home, and look around you. Your home will tell you what you need."

Gabriella had mentioned quite a few people at the job she worked at quit all of a sudden. And as a student who (and he quotes) "Eats and breathes pay check by paycheck", she couldn't turn down the extra shift, and she couldn't let Ryan suffer on his own.

("Keh…Ryan" Troy thought to himself with an internal eye roll that deserved an award).

Between the extra shifts, final exams coming up, and additional practices being tacked on for their year end show case, Gabriella just couldn't find the time to see him.

And so, his brunette went straight from class to class, to work, and straight back to the apartment she shared with her friends.

And he?

He's off to his own home he shared with his wife, trying to find a way to get his composition to be included in an up and coming film.

"So, what exactly did he say it was missing?" Sharpay asked again as she dished out some pasta from the pot. Troy tossed the lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers he had been cutting and washing into a bowl and started mixing it. "Ah! Not ranch, vinaigrette please. The red wine one" Troy dropped the plastic bottle and grabbed a glass jar from the fridge.

"He said he was missing the feeling of home."

"Isn't the movie about coming home?"

"Yes. So, you can see my predicament." The edge in his voice was hard to hide.

"Troy, please. I am trying to understand so I can help." Sharpay paused her dishing and turned to him. Troy looked up. Their kitchen was warm from their cooking, and for the life of him, he could not remember the last time they cooked together in their kitchen, together, at home.

"Sorry, sorry I didn't—I just… I really want this to work." Troy sighed, "It's a great opportunity. I'm not the lead scorer, but to have just one composition billed would be…incredible."

"I get it," Sharpay came over, placing a gentle hand on his forearm. She looked up, brown eyes warm and cheeks red from the heat. Troy felt some tension leave, "I was there before. I know what it's like to get that foot in the door." They set their plates at their table as they sat across from one another,

"What if you considered partnering with someone?" Sharpay asked. Troy looked up,

"I…I haven't really considered that."

"Why not?"

"Shar…this is my composition. Partnering with someone just…it takes it away from me." Troy twirled his spaghetti around his fork.

"But what if I could find someone whose name is already know in the industry. Having their name with yours could make your submission stand out." Sharpay suggested. She lifted a manicured finger up before Troy could say anything, "I know. You want it to be yours. I get it. I really do. But sometimes to get into the door, you need to do whatever it takes, even if it's not the way you want."

She took a mouthful of salad, chewing thoughtfully,

"Think about it, Troy. Please. If you agree, let me know and I will do everything in my power to find someone who will work with you, without taking away the integrity of your composition." Sharpay reached her hand over the table to cover his, squeezing in support. Troy looked up with conflicted eyes, "I just want to help you."

"I know…I…I'll think about it, I promise." Troy turned his hand over so that her hands fell into his palm. He squeezed her hand, sending a small smile at her. Satisfied, Sharpay withdrew her hand, and they continued to eat in silence.

After everything was washed up, Sharpay went to get ready for bed, citing an early dress rehearsal for a new show. Troy retreated to his office, immediately opening his composition file, and tuning the rest of the world out with his head phones.

Home. He needed to make it feel like home.

"We're finally home!"

Ryan dropped everything he had in his hand and flopped onto the couch with the grandeur of a panda. Gabriella laughed, hanging her stuff back into the closet.

"It's not the first 10 hour shift you've pulled, Ry."

"But it was the first one with you and a whole bunch of tone-deaf teenagers." The messy blond man on the couch shot back. Gabriella could only roll her eyes and threw a pear at him while biting into an apple of her own -even she couldn't deny the slight fatigue settling into her bones. Between her classes, assignments, practices and working shift after shift at the record store with Ryan, Gabriella couldn't find time to sleep. Other than practice and off schedule times where Troy actually needed her to help him get organized, neither of them have had any time to spend with each other.

"Is Ryan being a completely baby again?" Kelsi popped out of her bedroom, auburn hair tied up in a messy bun and comfortably dressed in a well-loved Julliard's sweater.

"His usual," Gabriella giggled. Ryan's head popped up, his blue eyes dead panned on the brunette,

"I am still your supervisor,"

Gabriella looked over, lips tipped up and batted her eyes, "Sorry~"

"Better." Ryan smirked, "Gabs let me know when you head out tomorrow morning, I'll drop you off."

"Don't you start late?" Kelsi asked, Ryan shrugged, eyes darted to Gabriella then back to Kelsi,

"I can drop her off,"

"Where was this offer before?" Kelsi demurred, eyes wiggling. Ryan threw a pillow at her, and trained his eyes back to the other girl,

"So yeah?" He smiled. Gabriella paused, there was something familiar about the way Ryan had spoken to her, offering to pick her up, and the way he geared himself towards her.

"Sure," she shrugged, "I could use some extra time in the music room with how busy I've been"

"I'm sure you can." Kelsi giggled, eyes mischievous. Gabriella flushed, her heart speeding up just slightly,

"I'm going to turn in early, see you guys tomorrow." Gabriella shut her room door just in time to block out the "god you're so obvious Ryan" from Kelsi, and the ensuing pillow fight.

It wasn't that Ryan wasn't good looking because he was. It wasn't that he wasn't kind, because he is. It's just that Ryan wasn't…Troy. Gabriella slowed down her pace as she got ready for bed, shedding the record shop's tacky polo shirt for a comfy camisole and sleep shorts.

Troy made her feel alive. Parts of her she never knew existed revealed to her with every caress, ever shirt pulled over her head, lips brushed against her shoulders, fingers down her waist, and thighs and whispers of hot words and air that heated her from the inside out. She felt like something inside her had been kept in a cage, and Troy with his blue eyes unlocked it a glance.

She also loved their passion for music. Their love of stories and words written down in the scores that not everyone could read. It was a world of grey and colour and no black or white, right or wrong. It was so easy to lose herself in the mixture of all there is and all that could be.

But then…it was too easy to lose herself. Gabriella glanced down at her phone, seeing several missed calls throughout the day. The calls from her parents had lessened over time. She still received several calls each day, most of which she was sure was her mother. Her father would see her love for music as pure stubbornness, and lack of understanding of the 'real world'.

But she knew what was real. She knows the very real, raw feeling of craving something (someone?). She knows the real feeling of her body reacting to another person in a way it had never reacted before.

She knows the very real feeling of being in a secret relationship that no one could know about and feeling like she was the one with more to lose.

She plugged her headphones in, closed her eyes and tried her best to drown out the noise. What was one more night of getting lost?

10:30AM

From: T.B.

Picking up any shifts tonight?

10:33AM

From: GM.

I thought you were in class?

10:40AM

From: T.B.

So are you and here you are replying me :p. So, answer my question

10:42AM

From: GM.

Professor…that is not very professional of you…

10:50AM

From: GM

Sorry, did I actually interrupt something?

10:58AM

From: T.B.

…Please don't call me that while I am in front of a class…

11:00AM

From: GM.

Oh.

No shifts tonight

11:01AM

From: T.B.

Good.

By 3:00PM that afternoon, Gabriella's head was full of wires and thoughts and body filled with jitters. Tonight, the group would be piecing together the core pieces of the work they were working on, and tonight would be the day Troy announced who would be taking on the solo.

Gabriella hoped it would be her. God, she never wanted anything more than this right now. She knew the part like the back of her hand, and she knows she can handle it. All she needed was the chance. The practical side of her tried to give her reason – she was only a first year, there were many other flautists who auditioned (based on the sneak peek she had of the list one night while Troy was asleep) who had years on her, more experiences and more technical exposure.

But then…she had the advantage of knowing Troy better than any of them could…

No. No that it should give her an edge in anyway

But what if…

Gabriella shook her head. No. She will get this position fair and square. She tightened the grip on her flute as she made her way across campus. Practice was still half an hour away, and if she could get into the music room, she could fit in some time to practice just in case…the solo was hers.

As expected, the music room was empty and made for the corner of the room she dubbed as 'hers' while she was alone.

Troy rounded the corner into the music room only to find an unexpected (but entirely welcomed) brunette. The smile on his face was impossible to hide – after spending several nights on his composition, and Sharpay starting to send 'names that could boost him up', it was all he could do to hang onto this sanity to last the rest of the practice. Seeing Gabriella here was a fresh air and god send. He snuck up behind her and absorbed her shocked jump by pulling her hard against his body – back to chest. He dipped his nose to the crown of her head and took a deep breath.

"Troy, the door's open!" Gabriella hissed, wiggling to get out of his hold. He simply tightened his warms around her waist and walked backwards pulling her along. Once they were in the confines of his office, he kicked the door closed, spun her around and swallowed her gasp with his lips.

All the buzzing in his head felt like it stopped the moment they connected. His mind settled, his brain stopped buzzing, and he sighed into her lips. He pulled back to look at her and she looked up at him with confusion

"Is everything ok?" she asked. Troy smiled again (it seemed like he couldn't not do that around her).

"It is now." He enjoyed watching the flush on her cheeks, it seemed to happen less and less as they spent more and more time together. Yes he could make it happen anytime he wanted (he knew the spots on her neck, in her elbow, the spot just below her breast and over her rib cage), but his words seemed to have a lesser effect than it did before.

"You seemed really stressed," she asked, "Are you working on something?"

"I'll tell you tonight." He promised. Before she could interrupt him, he kissed her again, this time a little more urgently and a little more aggressively with a tongue slipping between her semi opened lips, "Right now we don't have much time."

"W-What, now?" Gabriella stuttered. There was less than 20 minutes before the rest of the orchestra would begin to file in.

"Don't think you could do it?" the challenge in his blue eyes were clear, as did darkening of his eyes showing his desire. And there it was again, the feeling of something inside her breaking out of its cage, unable to not take a challenge. Gabriella stepped up to him, chest to chest, and her brown eyes matched his own,

"I think we can," her lips ticked up a little, her breathing picked up, and it wasn't long until her feet left the ground, wrapped around his waist as he plopped her onto the nearest surface. It was a frenzy of fingers unbuttoning buttons, lips sucking on neck, tongues trailing hot, moist trails from one side to the other. Troy had Gabriella's top unbuttoned first, and he shoved the shirt aside with no shortness of delicacy, exposing the lacy tops of her red bra. The clock in the office ticked louder as if to warm them of the dwindling time and he wasted no time dipping a tongue beneath her bra, lapping at the tops of her hardening nipples.

"O-Oh!" Gabriella gasped. Her hands held his head to her breast, and her legs pulled him even closer to her. Sitting on the edge of a table elevated her to just the right spot to feel his hardened length beneath his slacks, rubbing just the right spot. Troy's left hand left her waist and cupped her other breast, kneading and massaging with urgency as his tongue dipped in and out of her bra.

"This is pretty," He breathed as he bit just above the lace. Gabriella squeaked, "But it needs to go." He pulled hard on the band of the bra and exposed the top of her breasts, her nipples popping out hard and swollen. He bent and bit, sending a shock through Gabriella that resulted in him pushing herself closer to him.

Gabriella's hazy mind picked up the sounds of shuffling from far away and her eyes snapped opened,

"There's someone in the music room!" she hissed. Troy lifted his head, hair messed and eyes frenzied. There was no way he would be able to run a practice with this pent up feeling inside him. He pulled away from her (to Gabriella's dismay), and flipped the light switch off, plunging them into darkness. He walked back to her, and pulled her off the desk, taking them further into the office, and away from the doors.

"You'll need to be quiet," he whispered. Gabriella looked at him. This wasn't the first time they had cut it so close, but never when there were actual students outside.

"T-Troy maybe …"

"Sh." Troy looked down at her, fiery blue eyes glowing in the dark, "Do you trust me?" Gabriella nodded silently. "Good." He bent down to kiss her, gentler this time as his hands came back up to caress her breast. He was gentle like a breeze, gone was the frenzied tornado that he was earlier. She melted against him as his hands trailed down her body to the top of her jeans, and made deft work of the button and zipper. Troy pulled away from her, and with her eyes adjusted to the darkness, could see him keep his eye contact as he slowly, confidently, sensually kneeled, pulling her jeans down.

"T-Troy…"

"Sh…" Troy kissed the top of her matching lace panties. "We only have 10 minutes." He nosed the edges of her lace, tracing it down the sides, and brushing against the moist heat. Troy groaned, smelling her scent, feeling the wetness trapped in the fabric of her panties.

"Do you know," he started, sending soft kisses on top of the fabric as he looked up at her, "this will be all I'll think of during rehearsals tonight?" his fingers gently pulled the wet fabric aside, exposing her to the cool air. "That as you're sitting there watching me, I'm watching you knowing exactly what you're wearing underneath" Gabriella's breath quickened. Troy looked up from between her legs, "That will be very distracting, Miss. Montez" and his tongue hit home as he found the swollen sensitive bud.

"OH!" Gabriella gasped, and just as quickly slapped her hand over her mouth as her eyes rolled. Troy's tongue swiped in long, strong strokes against the most sensitive part of her body. She breathed out hard from her nose, hands clamped shut as she tried to keep her noise to herself,

"Quiet remember," Troy rasped from below. The noise from outside was starting to grow louder. Class was about to start, "We're running out of time." He stood up, and Gabriella almost got a protest out until he turned her around, bringing her hands up to brace against the pillar she had unknowingly been leaning against. She heard the quick sign of his zippers being pulled, and his slacks and belt falling to the ground,

"We'll have to be quick, ok?" his hoarse voice appeared next to her ear, his body up against her back. Gabriella nodded, her breath coming out short. She felt him position himself, and then-

"OH god" She gasped loudly, head falling against the wall in front of her. Troy's hand came up to cover her mouth, and she bit down on his finger,

"Easy." He growled. He picked up a brutal pace, everything pulling out and pumping back in just as quickly. Their movements were short, jerky and urgent. Gabriella pushed back, using the leverage of the wall to dominate the pace just a bit, for which Troy bit down on her shoulder in reply, and only hastened his pace. He could feel it, the tightening in his groin, the shaking in his limbs. He could also feel her shaking, the erratic spasms in her muscle as the top of her body leaned further from him, but her bottom part seeking to be even closer.

"I-I can't, I can't." Gabriella breathed, Troy leaned even closer

"Come on baby, come on." He rasped. Gabriella tightened, and froze against him, and bit on the hand over her mouth. Her body jerked but he kept her close to him, refusing to let her go far. A few more thrusts and Troy had to bury his own groan into her neck and hair, clinging onto the feeling but relishing in the release. For the next few seconds they were silent, their breathing heavy and the air heavy with musk.

"We-We need to…outside." Gabriella mumbled, body slacking against his. Troy chuckled, kissing her neck and shoulder soft with affection,

"I'll go, I'll start practice first and you can come out and say you're finished organizing whatever you think makes sense." Gabriella turned to him, warmth in her eyes, a flush in her cheeks that could only be brought on by intense pleasure. The sight of her, hair a mess but still lovely, brown eyes satisfied and warm, lips kiss bruised (proudly he might add) but warm, plump and red, and the look of full trust.

"God you're beautiful"

It came out before he even knew it, and it hit him like a truck.

Gabriella's heart stuttered to a stop, then rushed back to life all at once.

She felt like home, and he was found.