A Pinkie Promise Chapter 25: Epilogue, a high school musical fanfic

This is it! This is the last chapter of 'A Pinkie Promise'. After 25 chapters, and over 1000 reviews, we have finally come to an end, thank you so much for sticking with me through the journey, it's been an incredible pleasure to write for you guys, and I could not have asked for better reviewers and followers. You make writing so much more enjoyable!

People have asked me if I could dedicate a chapter to Troyella, and as much as I would love to, I had only planned for this story to go for 25 chapters, but honestly, this entire chapter will probably most likely be Troyella based.

HSM3 premiered on October 24th. I went to see it on opening day (I saw the VERY FIRST opening show!!) and it was INCREDIBLE!! You thought it was awesome in the trailer, wait until you see it on the BIG SCREEN! It was amazing, and you'll love the Troyella moments. Let's make it a blockbuster hit!!

A Pinkie Promise

Chapter 25: A New Promise

"Shar you're going to make a hole in your house soon, and I don't think that's the first thing Zeke wants to see after you guys get married," Chad said from his position on Sharpay's large and comfortable couch. The pacing blonde stopped for a millisecond to send an electrifying glare at the bushy haired man, before she resumed her circular pattern.

"We can always stick the bill on you," Zeke smirked, "At the rate Taylor's going," and the chef gestured at Chad's girlfriend who was also imitating Sharpay's actions, only she divided her time between pacing in circles and casting longing glances to the phone.

"Why hasn't he called yet? Do you think something happened?" Taylor asked worriedly, biting the bottom of her lip in anxiety,

"Maybe he forgot?" Kelsi offered,

"No, Troy wouldn't…not when it has to do with Gabriella," Sharpay shot the idea down in a heartbeat,

"Then why hasn't he called? It's been a full day! I knew we shouldn't have left the arena before they came back, we should've followed him!" Taylor growled, quickly changing from worried to angry. Out on instincts, Chad winced, and shuffled away from his moody girlfriend.

"Maybe they didn't have time to call," Ryan suggested, "It was pouring last night, and he probably took her home,"

"Besides, it's nine in the m-mor-morning Tay," Jason said through a terribly hidden yawn, "You and Shar called us over at eight, any sane man wouldn't be awake until noon, at least!" Like Chad, Jason was also subjected to a scathing glare, only this time, he managed to get the glare from both Sharpay and Taylor. Talk about a rough morning. It scared the life out of everyone when Sharpay-who only just sat down under Zeke's persuading-shot up before her seat was even warm,

"I have to know, we're going to Troy's now!" Sharpay declared, with Taylor shooting up a second after her declaration, agreeing whole heartedly. When the girls saw no similar movement what so ever form the rest of the group, Sharpay narrowed her sharp brown eyes, her cherry lips forming a menacing growl, "I. Said. NOW."

That got them moving.

"…accident last night on the highway. Fortunately there was no casualty, only a minor injury between drivers of the vehicles. A twenty-nine year old woman was sent to the hospital for minor head injuries, and authorities has confirmed that it was not life threatening and is expecting a full recovery. Authorities have confirmed that it was simply an accident, and no alcohol or speeding was involved; only cautioning drivers to drive carefully during a storm. Stay tuned for Sports News coming up next."

Shadow sniffed at the strange, glowing black box that his humans seem to enjoy gathering around on a daily basis. The little puppy would never understand why it was so fascinating. The lights hurt his eyes if he got too close, and the booming noise would make his ears flatten on his head, why did humans living in the box speak more loudly than his own humans? Weird.

Wandering the big house, Shadow worked his way from the glowing box to the coffee table in the middle. Standing on his hind legs, his wet nose sniffed around a smaller, rectangular object. Humans always pointed that to the glowing box, and somehow, the box would flicker, and suddenly a different human would be on the screen. Why couldn't humans just make up their minds and stick to one person? Geez! The glowing box caught his attention again, and Shadow barked when a picture of his human Dad filled the screen

"Lakers win the semi finals by a thread but Chad Danfourth's last minute basket! Now you might be wondering why Lakers superstar, Troy Bolton wasn't the one to save the day. Lakers coach benched the rising athlete half way through the game, seems like it wasn't a good night for Bolton, only scoring a grand total of thirteen points in the entire game!"

The box started showing a bunch of straight lines in weird patterns his humans liked to call 'numbers' and the puppy quickly lost interest. Instead, Shadow trotted away from the black box. The picture of his human father was not a happy one. The little puppy thought that was weird, why wouldn't he be happy? Shadow thought his dad looked quite happy when he arrived home last night with his human mother. Sure they were soaking wet (Now they know why he hated baths so much!), but they were smiling, and had made weird faces to each other. Deciding to solve the mystery once and for all, Shadow headed for Troy's room and with a little whimper and tiny growl, used his nose to push the slightly ajar door and slipped through the crack it provided.

Gabriella began to come to, several rays of sunlight finally victorious at fighting through the drawn curtains, and hitting her face. She squeezed her eyes even tighter together to see if it would make the room go dark again. No such luck. Slowly, regretfully she opened her eyes, quickly adjusting to the brightly lit room. She groaned in a lazy way, taking in a deep breath.

Funny, she never realized the morning air would smell like a mix of coconut, a hint of over used Adidas cologne (A/N: I LOVE Adidas Cologne), and the smell of a morning after a rain storm. She also never realized a bed would emit warmth, twitch under her, and wear a crumpled white wife beater.

Throughout the night, their position had changed, and now Gabriella was using half of Troy's back as her bed, and he was laying face down, his head cocked to the side in a serene picture of relaxation. Gabriella had to smile as she rested her head on the Troy's back once more. Now this was a bed she wouldn't mind waking up on every morning…well maybe not bed…more like on Troy. Troy could have the bed. She held in a giggle as she carefully adjusted her head so that she was now lying on his left shoulder, just under his slumbering face. She could feel the waft of air ruffling the top of her head as he breathed in and out peacefully. Looking at the door, she saw Shadow walking into the room, his tiny padded foot making its way over to the bed,

"No Shadow," Gabriella whispered ever so quietly. Gabriella knew her little puppy heard it, because his ears twitched, but (like Troy) innocently ignored it leaped onto the bed (a great feat for a dog his size), and found a comfortable spot between her and Troy's intertwined legs. Sighing, Gabriella gave up, and relaxed into her position on Troy's back. It took less than thirty seconds of Troy's rhythmic breathing and comfortable warm to lull her back to sleep. Neither human nor canine noticed a car pulling up to the front of the large house half an hour later. Shadow's ears twitched at the foreign noise that did not belong to his home, but dismissed it for dreams of bones and giving his human parents a hard time at bath time.

Inside the van in which Zeke was the driver, Sharpay in the passenger seat, Chad, Taylor, Kelsi, Ryan and Jason behind them, they pulled up to Troy's large house. Sharpay reached over to punch in the access code which Troy had given each of them the day he bought his house ("No point in not giving it to you," Troy had said), and drove up the drive way,

"How are we supposed to get in when we don't have keys," Chad suddenly piped up, remembering one important, but forgotten detail.

"You remember now?" Jason asked, "After Zeke nearly killed us running that red light?"

"Hey Shar said we were in a hurry!" the chef defended himself,

"And you shouldn't be talking Jase," Kelsi giggled, "Last time you drove you nearly ran into a tree," and while the chef high fived Kelsi, and smirked, Jason had nothing to say except glare at the petite musician.

"Ok kids calm down," Ryan rolled his eyes good naturedly, assuming his role as big brother again,

"And don't worry, I know where Troy keeps his keys," Taylor smirked. The group of seven filed out of the van, and approached the grand doors of the house. Taylor knelt down, and lifted the 'Welcome' mat that Chad had gotten Troy a few years ago ("To make it homier," Chad explained), and after a few seconds of looking around, stood back up again with a triumphant smile, and a silver key dangling in her hands,

"You'd think a basketball star would know not to do that anymore," Sharpay said, taking a break from her worrying and breaking out a small smile, Taylor smiled, and inserted the keys, and opening the door. Quietly, the gang made their way through the house.

Gabriella didn't know how she had slept for after waking up, but it couldn't have been more than an hour. Groaning, and digging her face deeper into Troy's wife beater, there was a type of buzzing around her ears that she couldn't get rid of.

"Aw isn't that cute?"

"Oh I need my camera, Zeke where's my phone?"

"Dude about time!"

"Chad shut up!"

"You shut up!"

"Both of you shut up,"

"Maybe we should leave? It's sort of invading their privacy,"

"Kels stop being so nice,"

"Beside it's Troy's fault for leaving his keys there,"

"And giving us the access code,"

"Oh Shar we should get those printed!"

"Do you think we should wake them up?"

"I'm already awake," Gabriella groaned into Troy's back, silencing the gang that was currently surrounding Troy's bed. She opened one eye to observe her friends. Sharpay stood poised with her pink and jewel encrusted cell phone in hand, no doubt snapping away at pictures with Zeke behind her, holding her unnecessary large bag. Taylor smiled in happiness, but had a smug little smile on her face, the same smile Gabriella had seen in high school when Taylor had proved the other team wrong. Ryan currently stood between Jason and Chad, and had a brotherly smile on his face. Kelsi ended their line of friends, the musician had a delicate blush on her face (always the sensible one), but offered a congratulatory smile.

"Comfortable there Gabby?" Chad winked, and Gabriella glared softly at him,

"Very much, and it would've been nice to stay that way a bit longer," Gabriella replied in a hushed voice, and Chad snickered loudly "I'm going to kill you if you wake Troy up,"

"He woke Troy up," came a mumbling below her. Their attention turned to the supposedly sleeping figure below on the bed, and Gabriella slid off him and onto the unoccupied side of the bed, "That didn't mean you had to get off," Troy mumbled in a tired voice, a small smile on his face. Gabriella only blushed while Chad, Zeke and Jason whooped and slapped Troy on the shoulder with a 'you go man'. Troy tried to decide whether or not to stay in bed longer or to get up. When Gabriella's body disappeared from his side, and a waft of cold air washed over the warmth of her body, Troy decided it wasn't much of a choice, and proceeded to stretch the sleep out of his muscles.

"Why are you in my house so early? And how the hell did you get in?" Troy asked in a grumpy morning manner, he paused and glared sharply at Chad, "Did you pick my lock again?"

"That was one time dude!" Chad defended, "Taylor kicked me out what was I supposed to do?"

"Plus you showed Tay where you hid your spare keys," Ryan interrupted in a calm voice, Gabriella turned around,

"Hid your spare keys?" she asked in a calm voice, something that scared Troy even more, "And where exactly did you hide them?"

"Um…well, I mean that is to say…its right there and I thought, you know, just in case…"

"It's under the mat outside the door," Sharpay piped in cheerfully. Her smile brightened, her previous worries forgotten when Troy shot her a deeper glare. Troy looked to Gabriella, his blue eyes softening and pleading in an effort to appease her. Gabriella only shot him a 'This isn't over look',

"I'm going to get changed," Gabriella announced aloud, gesturing to a pair of sweats and a long t-shirt that once belonged to Troy. She walked out to leave her boyfriend (her heart fluttered at the word she was finally able to use) to the mercy of their friends.

After getting changed into her appropriate attire (a pair of jeans she usually left over and another one of Troy's large t-shirt, she opted for one of his older jerseys), Gabriella rejoined their group of friends in the living room. Chad took up his customary spot on the large spread sofa, remote already poised at hand and flicking through the various channels. Taylor, Sharpay and Kelsi were surrounding Shadow, and it was obvious the black puppy enjoyed the extra female attention, his tiny tail wagging like crazy, and his little pink tongue sliding in and out in an effort to gain more attention from the ladies as he wiggled his black nose ("Like father like…dog," Gabriella smirked). Zeke, Jason and Ryan each took up a spot at the high stool chairs in front of the counter just talking normally. Finally, her eyes landed on Troy, who was sprawled out on the second large couch, still in shorts, but had the decency to change into a t-shirt. Apparently, he failed against the battle with his wild hair, and odd strands of brown locks stuck out oddly.

Gabriella couldn't have wished for a better picture.

Troy could feel her eyes on him. Actually, he had always been able to feel when she was looking for, or looking at him. There was also this pleasant feeling tingle that ran down his spine, and his heart with pump even louder, and he'd turn with anticipation to meet her brown eyes. Only this time, the effects were much stronger, and he no longer wondered why his heart would jump and fly every time that tingle ran down his back. Slowly he turned from his position on the couch, and ended up on his stomach, his blue eyes peering up at her through bangs. They shared a smile.

"Aw look at them, it makes me sick," Chad joked, breaking the moment, he winced when Taylor smacked him on the arm,

"You're such an insensitive jerk, I don't know what I see in you," Taylor glared. Chad only winked, and pulled her close to him and kissed her on the cheeks in reply. The rest of the group laughed well naturedly,

"Well I'm hungry, where can we eat?" Troy announced, sitting up. Gabriella took her automatic spot next to him, and he reached out and cradled her against him. He marvelled at how well they fit together.

"I say we go to a buffet! To celebrate Troy and Gabby breaking their stubbornness," Chad declared,

"It's almost ten thirty, we're not eating a buffet at ten thirty," Sharpay countered

"I want something light, nothing too heavy," Gabriella said thoughtfully, the girls nodding in agreement,

"We can always go to that garden place we took mom and dad and Isabella to last time, the one with all the fancy fruits and salad," Troy suggested, Gabriella beamed at him and didn't hesitate to kiss him on the cheeks,

"Sure, go with her idea," Chad grumbled jokingly,

"We need to get dressed, give us one second," Gabriella said, bouncing up, and pulling Troy up with her. They automatically intertwined their fingers until Troy reached his bedroom and Gabriella reached her guest room,

"You two look like you've been dating for years instead of a few hours!" shouted Zeke. Inside their respective rooms, Troy and Gabriella grinned at the comment.

Maybe they have been dating for years…they just didn't notice it until now.

"You know even with a new Broadway show debut, I haven't seen this many flashing lights since…"

"Last week?" Chad interrupted Sharpay. The gang were currently all cluttered around a large table for nine in a private room while employees continued to set up screens to block the group from the windows. Outside, flashes of cameras went off as the paparazzi continued to attempt to take snapshots of what was going to be 'the hottest new couple' as quoted by a magazine they had seen on the way to breakfast.

"Thank my coach for benching me yesterday," Troy muttered, rolling his eyes as he scanned carelessly through the menu. Gabriella sat next to him, leaning closer towards him not only because she wanted to stay close, but because she wanted to stay close to him and awayfrom her invaded privacy. Noticing her discomfort, Troy put the menu down, and looked at her, placing a hand on his lap. Almost immediately Gabriella's own hand round a spot on his, playing with his palm, sliding her hand up his, until their fingers locked together,

"You ok?" he whispered softly, Gabriella nodded,

"Fine,"

"You sure?"

"Very sure, don't worry Troy;" Gabriella said, smiling softly, her other hands closed her menu, "I'm ready to order,"

"Me too," Troy said automatically right after. That broke the ice as the group laughed, and exploded into exclamations of 'you never looked at a menu since Gabby could read' and 'next time, don't even bother asking for one'. After their food was delivered by a slightly shell shocked and stuttering waiter (Poor Sharpay had to hide her face in Zeke's shoulder to stop herself from bursting out laughing), the gang settled in a calm dynamic, eating and passing casual conversation.

"Do you realize how quickly your relationship will turn public?" Ryan suddenly said, looking up from his plate of Caesar salad, drowning what was a relatively light atmosphere. Gabriella's fork paused on her fruit salad, the fork half way in a strawberry. Troy took a glance at the brunette next to him to find her frozen and his mind went into his natural panic mode,

"What if she didn't think of that? What if she doesn't want that and just breaks up with me?" Troy suddenly lost his appetite for the buttered bagel and soup in front of him.

After their breakfast, the rest of the gang excused themselves for various reasons. Taylor had some marking to do, Chad and Jason both complained about the early ("and completely unnecessary," Chad added) wake up call and claimed to have some sleep to catch on. Ryan was expected back at the theatre for some last minute directing, and Sharpay had pulled Zeke away to work on the finalization of their wedding which was set to take place in mid July, exactly half a month (or two weeks)from now, thus leaving the new couple alone.

Troy and Gabriella drove around until they ended up back at Troy's house, where they then decided to take Shadow out for a walk since it had been a while since both of them had spent time with the dog together. Parking at a nearby park, they unhooked the leash from Shadow's collar, and picking up a tennis ball they brought along with them, Troy began tossing it out to the empty field, the tiny black puppy becoming a black speck as it happily chased the flying sphere.

Gabriella and Troy sat in silence for a few minutes, simply enjoying each other's company, and taking turn throwing the ball.

"Do you…you mind the whole paparazzi thing don't you?" Troy said after a couple of minutes, his eyes trained forward, not daring to look at her. Gabriella paused,

"I can't say I like it,"

"And you can't really escape from it if you go out with me," Troy said slowly, almost dejectedly, "Kind of hard escaping the lime light when you're with me," Being best friends for nineteen years did not come without benefits and skills. It may take a stranger a few days to figure out Troy's disappointment in his voice, but almost immediately, Gabriella knew what he was saying,

"Troy, I got this kind of attention when I was just your best friend. All of us knows what it's going to take to keep our friendship, we know the risks, we know the consequences and we deal with it, that's why we've been able to stay friends," Gabriella said, "I do hate the paparazzi, I think it's a big violation to someone's privacy, but that's not going to make me leave you, or distance myself away from you,"

"This isn't the same as when your were my best friend," Troy countered, "You are my best friend, you always will be, and even then everything that happened to you I take personally…but this is different…if it was that bad when we were rumoured to be together…how bad is it going to be when it's official? I don't want my life to disrupt yours…that's not how a relationship is supposed to be," Troy grinned sheepishly at Gabriella's giggle and raised eyebrow, "Or at least…that's not how I think a relationship should be,"

"You're such a softy," Gabriella giggled, and reached up and kissed him, "That's what I love about you…and don't worry Troy, I'm a big girl…I can deal with it…besides it seems like you don't mind it, I mean it took two days for you and Melanie to go public," Troy smirked when he thought he heard a lace of jealousy in her voice, but softened his smirk under her glare,

"I didn't want to," he admitted, "Melanie insisted on it though, said that it'd be easier that way, since her brother was also on the team, it made sense to me then, but I never really liked it, I mean…kind of hard to keep a relationship if there are a hundreds sites blogging about what we ate for breakfast,"

"I'm glad we're on the same page then," Gabriella smiled up at him, "Don't worry, we'll get through this, we got through nineteen years haven't we?" Troy began to smile softly down at her, his heart being placed at ease. He leaned down to capture her lips in a sweet but short kiss, as the ringing of her cell phone cut the moment short,

"Ignore it," Troy grumbled childishly against her lips, Gabriella giggled, leaning up to close the distance again, but pulled back quickly, causing Troy to nearly lose his balance, his forehead losing its leaning post.

"Hello?" Gabriella stuck her tongue out at him when he made a grumpy, pouting face at her, and giggled, "Oh sorry no, I was just—never mind, Oh…oh alright…no it's no problem…I'll see you then…ok bye," Gabriella looked up with an apologetic smile,

"Something wrong?" Troy asked worriedly,

"I have to go to the hospital…um…Rachel has some information package for me about…um about Europe," Gabriella said softly. The happy feeling bubbling in Troy began to dim a bit, and even when Shadow dropped the now soggy tennis ball against his shoe, he paid no notice,

"Oh,"

"I'm sorry…"

"No, c'mon it's time we left anyway, I'll drop you off," Troy said, standing up and straightening his t-shirt. He picked the tennis ball up and clicked his tongue, making Shadow trot alongside him, sad that the game of fetch was over. Gabriella attached the leash to Shadow's collar once more before they drove out of the park,

"Call me to pick you up alright?" Troy asked, Gabriella nodded, noticing the slight sadness in his eyes,

"I love you," Gabriella said, Troy softened, and smiled, hugging her quickly,

"Love you too, now go and remember to call," he chided, Gabriella smiled, nodded and left. Troy watched her until she disappeared in the elevator and sighed, looking back at the puppy who sat at the back seat, "So…what do you want for lunch?"

"It's quite simple really, so do you have any questions? Gabriella? Gabriella?" Rachel snapped her fingers in front of the brunette whose eyes had been stuck on one section for five minutes. Gabriella snapped out of her daze

"Sorry what was the question?"

"Gabriella are you alright? You seem like you can't concentrate, is something wrong?" Rachel asked,

"No I just…I guess I have a lot on my mind," Gabriella sighed,

"About the trip?" Rachel asked, when she didn't answer Rachel asked again, "Boy problems?"

"Um…both?" Gabriella admitted, "It's nothing…don't worry about it, so um when's the date I leave?"

"Mid July…about two weeks from now,"

"What do you mean you can't come to my wedding?" Sharpay shrieked. The entire household echoed with her voice, and if one looked outside, they probably would've seen a flutter of birds flying away from the tree outside. Gabriella winced, and shrank in the chair she was sitting in, while the blonde shot into the air, her blonde hair in a frenzy and her brown eyes blazing,

"I…can't?" Gabriella said weakly,

"Why can't you? It's the most important day of my life! You're my Maid of Honour! You have to be there, you promised!"

"I know, and I'm really sorry, I want to be there, I really do but…but my plane leaves on the same day in the morning," Gabriella sighed,

"I'll fly you on a private plane!" Sharpay demanded,

"Shar…"

"No I'll do that if that's what it's going to take," Sharpay sat down, "Gabby…it's my wedding…you have to be at my wedding…it's the most important day of my life, you can't miss it,"

"I know…but this is the only plane the university covers…and the hospital in Europe is all about punctuality…I won't make a good impression if I don't get there on time… they won't let me in if I'm late,"

"Gabriella…"

"Look I talked to Tay…she said if you don't mind she can take my spot as Maid of Honour…I just can't be late or I won't get in," Gabriella said, "I'm sorry…"

"Have you told Troy?" Sharpay asked, Gabriella shook her head,

"I…I haven't," the brunette looked down, wringing her hands, "his championship is a day before the flight…I'm going to go watch him play…then talk to him,"

"It's a long distance relationship," Sharpay pointed out as gently as possible, or at least a gently as a person could be when they found out their Maid of Honour couldn't make it. Gabriella didn't answer, but made a nod to show she had acknowledged the fact, "Hey both you and Troy are strong together, it'll work out," Sharpay said soothingly, and to that, Gabriella had no answer.

A lot of things happened in the two weeks. Life managed to fall back into normal daily routines, with the exception that Troy was now Gabriella's boyfriend, and he would smirk, and kiss her every time he claimed Gabriella was being jealous when any girl came up to him ("I am not jealous!" Gabriella would deny, which would then lead to a few minutes of teasing, and Troy kissing her).

To counter that, Gabriella had equal amount of fun telling him he was jealous every time a male doctor came up to her. Troy was the one who dropped her off and picked her up from work every day ("There goes the need for my car," she had joked), and often times he would go into the hospital to find her. And every time he came, a doctor would be talking with Gabriella, and Troy would go into jealous mode. As soon as they were in the safety of his car, Gabriella would tease him endlessly, and he would grumble in a childish manner, not exactly denying it, but god forbid him admit he was jealous.

Aside from that, the two spent their first week as a couple with each other as much as possible. The transition from being best friends to being boyfriend and girlfriend was surprisingly easy, if not effortless. They were still the best of friends, only now, they were even closer, and approaching levels and grounds they never would've dared when they had just been best friends. Perhaps their friends were right, and that unofficially, they had been dating each other for much longer. Regardless, Troy was the perfect boyfriend. He would drop her off at work, and pick her up, and sometimes surprising her by taking her to a fancy restaurant on a date. But Gabriella liked the moments when they were together at his house or her house the best. One of them would cook dinner (mostly Gabriella, but sometimes it would be the both of them), and Troy would set a blanket on the floor, and they would have an impromptu picnic.

Come the second week, Troy began to be laden with practices for the upcoming championships, and Gabriella was getting ready for her departure from the life she's always known. Aside from that, she continued to help Sharpay get ready for her wedding. As the date approached, the blonde was beginning to shed her hard, confident appearance, freaking out at the simplest things, and coming up with 'what if' scenarios. It took the best of the girls from the group, plus Anne to calm the blonde down.

The day before Sharpay's wedding was Troy and Chad's championships, and Gabriella, Kelsi, Taylor and Anne nearly dragged Sharpay against her will to the arena,

"You need to calm down tonight," Kelsi said as they pushed Sharpay down onto the seat in the front row,

"Just stop thinking about the wedding," Gabriella said,

"How can I? It's my wedding!" Sharpay shrieked,

"It'll be perfect, you spent months on it," Taylor assured her,

"Besides, you don't want to get wrinkles if you're worrying this much, there's only so much foundation can cover," Anne added winking. That managed to calm Sharpay's freaking out. The girls were joined by the guys a few moments later with popcorn, drinks and the occasional pretzels,

"Do any of you know the announcement Troy's making today?" asked Jason, which translated to 'if Gabriella knew'. Gabriella shrugged,

"I don't know…he wouldn't tell me,"

"Oh maybe he's getting promoted or something," Anne shrugged, the rest of the gang could only guess, as the horn in the arena suddenly sounded, indicating the beginning of the championships.

(A/N: I'm not going to be spending a lot of time on the game, it's not that important, you can use your imagination :))

With one minute left on the clock, and tied for 87, the LA Lakers dribbled and pushed through the court with their might. Troy's hair was completely matted with sweat, and his body glistened with the hot arena lights. The gang on the sidelines kept their eyes trained on their friends. A pass, toss, block, fake left another pass, dribble, double teaming and Troy lost the ball. The crowd groaned as the ball was sent down the other way. Troy and Chad chased after the opposing team with the ball. Like the best friends they were, Chad and Troy seemed to have read each other's mind, and fluidly switched positions, Chad gained speed, his track and field training paying off, and managed to cut off the player with the ball. Doing a double take, the opposing player tried to look for an open man, he passed the ball to a teammate to his left, and Troy appeared out of no where, snatching the ball out of the air…only to be knocked down just as quickly by a opposing player. Troy fell onto the floor hard.

Gabriella's gasp was lost amongst the gasp of the rest of the arena, and she was not the only one who shot up. The ref blew his whistle for a time out, and penalty, and Chad helped Troy up who tried to hide his wince. The ref spoke with both teams for a brief second, and judging by the angry and animated motions the other team was making, it was clear they did not like the result. Regardless, the arena exploded into cheers as the ball was given to Troy for a penalty shot. Walking to the middle of the court, and dribbling the ball a couple times, Troy's eyes turned to meet Gabriella's, and she gave him a smile. Smiling back, Troy refocused himself, and took his shot…and the Lakers led by one point with a swish of the basket.

Now it was just a game of keeping the ball away from the other team. With the Lakers leading 88-87, and thirty seconds on the clock, the Lakes executed perfect manoeuvres of passing the ball around, never keeping the ball with one person for more than a couple of seconds. Ten seconds, and Chad had the ball and (to the gang's surprise), passed it to Michael Goldstrem. Michael held the ball for a couple of seconds. Four seconds on the clock, and the crowd was cheering loudly, and Michael passed the ball to Troy, who held the ball protectively. Two seconds, Troy faked a left, and bounced the ball to Chad, who caught it as the bell rang for the end of the game. This time, the entire crowd shot out of their seats as they watched their home team take home the championships. Excited beyond belief, Gabriella left her seat, and forgetting herself, ran onto the court where Troy was surrounded by his teammates. Whether it was because they knew she was Troy's girlfriend or because they never had a spectator run on stage, the team parted in time for Troy to catch his running girlfriend, twirling her and bringing her feet off the ground. In a fluid motion, he bent down and captured her lips in a long kiss. Their eyes closed, they were almost able to block out the millions of camera flashes.

Gabriella pulled away as red as a tomato, but Troy only smiled, keeping a hand around her waist even when the large screen above focused on the pair. There were people who sighed at the sweetness, and some girls who seethed with jealousy. Troy glanced over at his coach, and nodded. His coach nodded back with a regretful smile, and sent someone over with a microphone. Gabriella watched in confusion as Troy cleared his throat on the microphone, the speakers amplifying it by ten times, and the crowd silenced,

"Thank you for coming tonight, it was a great game," Troy began, "No, scratch that, we had an awesome season! And it's all because of this team right here," the Lakers whooped, "I've been on this team for a few years already, and I don't regret it, but I've made the decision to try something new, I'm not leaving the basketball career, it's been my life…but I've decided to leave the team," there was a unison gasp, and Gabriella turned to look at him with wide eyes, "I've accepted the offer to go to England for a two year camp training," he paused to let the information set in, but it was also for his friends and Gabriella to make the instant connection,

"My coach has promised me a spot after I return…or after I find out it's too hard and decide to quit and come back," Troy chuckled softly, "But regardless, this is my decision, and I just want to thank everyone for all their support and for them to keep supporting the Lakers, thank you," and he handed the microphone away, and turned to lock eyes with Gabriella's shocked ones. No words escaped her opened mouth, simply because she couldn't piece a proper sentence together.

"I meant it, it's my choice, and you'd have to tie me to a chair for me not to follow you," Troy said in his normal voice, closing in their distance so she could hear him over the loud din of the crowd. Gabriella couldn't say anything, and even if she had something to say, nothing would've came out because her throat was so tight with tears, so instead, she flung herself at him, and buried her face in his neck.

"You're sure about this?"

"I'm sure Tay,"

"I'm happy for you, she's going to kill you though you know that?"

"I know, look I have to go, thanks for doing this, ok I will bye," and Gabriella ended her conversation with Taylor, turning around to see Troy bringing two glasses of red wine to their spot on their couch. Shadow was lazily following him, and couldn't wait to snuggle in between the two of them. Setting the glasses down, Troy sat down next to her, pulling her to him, and allowing Shadow a spot on his lap,

"I hope you're not trying to get me drunk," Gabriella teased,

"Hey you might get a hangover, and miss your flight tomorrow, I don't see the bad in that," Troy grinned, to that Gabriella's smile dropped,

"Troy…tonight, what you did…"

"I told you, I wanted to do it," Troy said sternly, "Don't go feeling guilty about it,"

"That's the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me," Gabriella said softly, closing her hands in his, "And I appreciate it,"

"Then it's settled…look your flight's tomorrow morning…this…it's our last night together before I can get a ticket…let's just enjoy it," Troy said softly, now letting his heart feel heavy, "Sharpay's going to kill you for not being at her wedding,"

"She'll probably have another reason by tomorrow," Gabriella thought to herself, instead, she reached up and kissed him.

"Where's my veil? My hair it's a mess!! No don't I can't sit, I can't wrinkle this dress!" Sharpay was hyperventilating. This was the day she would become Sharpay Baylor, and she was stressing out an hour before her beach theme wedding. The gown she wore was elegant, and clung to all her curves, showing off her petite waist and delicate bones. The dress had a strap that went around her neck, and clinging to her waist, down to her hip, all the way down her legs until mid thigh, when it spread out, making a cloud of white when she twirled around. (A/N: If you saw 'Enchanted' it's the same purple dress Giselle wore at the final dance except it's white) Her silk veil was held up by a Swarovski crystal crown, courtesy of her parents.

"Shar, sit still or I'm really going to tie you down," Taylor ordered, Sharpay sat on the edge of the bed,

"I'm going to kill Zeke for doing this to me!" she threatened. Too bad he wasn't doing any better,

"Maybe we should splash water on him that might wake him up"

"Dude, oh c'mon fainting is so not a manly thing to do,"

"I don't think crowding him like that is going to help,"

"Here let me do something," Troy cleared his throat, clearing Jason, Chad and Ryan out of the way (all who, by the way, were looking very handsome in their suits and tie) and approached the fainted groom, clearing his throat once more, Troy leaned next to Zeke's ears, and said loudly,

"WHOA look at Sharpay in that dress!" Zeke shot up and out of unconsciousness to hear Chad, Jason and Ryan's uncontrollable laughter. He turned and saw Troy smirk, "I see what you're thinking about," Troy teased,

"Sharpay will never let me live it down if she knew I fainted before the wedding," Zeke groaned, fixing his suit and standing up carefully. He would never admit to the guys (ever) that even now he still felt a little nauseous.

"Alright, so car's out front, we should head out and get to the beach," Ryan said, Zeke nodded, fixing his teal colour tie that matched his white tux. The guys marched to the car, where Ryan ignited the engine, and began to pull out of the driveway. Halfway down the street, Chad was patting his pocket,

"Dude what are you doing?" Jason asked,

"Troy you have the rings right?" Chad asked, Troy blanched,

"You said you were going to hold it for me, because I had to change," Troy said slowly, Ryan stopped the car, and Zeke turned around, his face pale,

"Ok, ok no need to panic, I'm sure... it's…here somewhere…deep pockets…" Chad mumbled, taking his jacket off and flipping it upside down,

"Uh…where are the rings?"

After a frantic search of the house, the guys managed to arrive at the beach five minutes before the girls did. Standing there poised (and no sign of having to turn Zeke's house upside down), Zeke graciously greeted his family and friends, while the rest of the guys hung back.

"Are you alright?" Chad asked Troy who was standing there, flipping and playing with his cell phone; Troy looked at his best friend and smiled,

"I'm fine," he said, "It's a great day today, let's not ruin it," the waves splashed on the sandy shores, gracing the air with a humid yet comfortable breeze. All too soon, they had to ask the guests and family to take their seats as they led Zeke to the front of the altar where a priest stood. Zeke began to wring his hands nervously,

"Chill man," Troy the best man said, "It'll be perfect, she'll walk down, look gorgeous and you'd be so busy wondering how someone like you found someone like her you'll forget to be nervous,"

"Not the best speech you've given," Zeke grinned, "but thanks," The crowd hushed to a silence when Ryan left the group of boys and made his way to the piano. He grinned to his parents and guests before he sat down in front of the grand piano Sharpay had delivered. His right foot tested the pedals below as his left foot rested against the soft sandy beach. Taking a glance at Zeke who nodded with a set jaw, Ryan began to play, his fingers dancing across the keys.

The entire crowd began to applause and stood up row by row as Sharpay made her entrance in her dress. Troy was right, Zeke had already forgotten to breathe, let alone get nervous. Sharpay had a brilliant smile on her face as she made her way to towards her soon to be husband. Taylor, being the impromptu maid of honour, followed behind with a bouquet, with Anne behind her, and Kelsi ended the line of bridesmaids. A few minutes later, Sharpay stood next to Zeke facing him, while Taylor, Anne and Kelsi took their respective spots in front of Troy, Chad, and Jason.

"Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to witness the joining of two people who love each other dearly, and are ready to approach the next chapter of their young lives and to create the first chapter of a life together…" the priest said in a slow, peaceful voice. Troy began to zone out as he stood besides Zeke. He wondered where Gabriella was, she would be on a plane by now…leaving for England to pursue her studies. The closest tickets he could find was in two weeks, and Troy didn't know if he could survive not seeing her for two weeks. He was so out of it, he didn't register the slight shuffle from the line across from him, and managed to get himself back to reality in time to hear the priest say "And do you Sharpay Ashley Evans take him, Zeke ChristopherBaylor as your lawfully wedded husband?"

I do's were exchanged, and soon Troy's cue was up as the priest said "The rings please". Zeke turned around, and Troy handed him the silver band with an encouraging smile, but everything froze he heard Sharpay gasp.

"Gabriella!" Sharpay gasped as she turned around. She had fully expected Taylor to hand her the ring, but instead, Gabriella Montez stood in front of her, her brunette locks curled and tied up in an elegant French knot, wearing a beautiful, dark green strapless dress. The top hugged her body like a corset, until it reached down to her knees where it ended, however, the back continue to trail down, landing softly on the sandy beach in a train. "You're supposed to be on a plane!" she squeaked,

"And yet I'm not," Gabriella smiled, unshed tears glistening in her eyes. Sharpay squealed loudly, hugging Gabriella with an accompanied 'I'm going to kill you'. Gabriella laughed, "Ok we can do this later, but you have a wedding to finish." And she placed the silver band in Sharpay's hands. Grinning, Sharpay nodded, and turned to Zeke. The two of them joined hands as they exchanged their rings, and as the priest pronounced them husband and wife, Sharpay Baylor burst out crying, and sealed their status with a kiss. Behind Zeke, Troy's eyes met with Gabriella, a stunned sort of look on his face.

Ryan began playing again, as Zeke and Sharpay Baylor led the way down the aisle as a newly wedded couple. Behind them, Troy joined with Gabriella, Chad joined with Taylor, Jason with Anne and Ryan with Kelsi as they made their way down the beach. Soon after, while guests were busy clambering the new couple, Troy gently dragged Gabriella aside,

"You're supposed to be on a plane," Troy said, looking down at her, drinking in her exquisite beauty while trying to make sense of the situation all at once. Gabriella nodded,

"Are you disappointed?"

"Hell no!" he exclaimed, then blushed when she giggled, "but…your transfer…if you don't show up you'll lose your spot,"

"Well then I guess I'm just destined to stay here," Gabriella said, "Maybe I'm just not supposed to fly half way across the world to be away from you…and the gang."

"No, you belong right here, with me," Troy declared. He ran a finger down the side of her face, to which Gabriella closed her eyes, "Promise me you'll stay,"

"Promise,"

"Pinkie promise?" Troy said. Gabriella's eyes opened, a smile threatening to show on her face,

"I can't make that promise if we already have one going," Gabriella said, blushing softly, to that Troy smirked, as he pulled out a velvet box, Gabriella gasped, "Troy…I…I don't think we're ready, we've only been together for a couple of weeks, I—"

"Brie, I know," Troy interrupted softly, "And I'm not asking you to marry me…not that I don't intend to in the future," he winked, he opened the velvet box and Gabriella found a beautiful silver band with a beautiful blue quartz in the middle, "I still want you to marry me one day, but you're right, we're not ready. This is a promise ring; you put it on your right hand, third finger, until we're ready to switch it to the left hand.

"I just want you to know I do intend on fulfilling the pinkie promise we made when we were ten," Troy said, "and if you're willing to let me…I'd be honoured if you wore this," he placed the box in her hand, waiting for her answer. A second later, Gabriella gave it back to him, stopping his world cold,

"I don't care if it's a wedding ring or a promise ring…I don't think I should be the one to put it on myself," Gabriella declared in a shaky voice. Learning to breathe again, Troy took the ring out of the velvet cushioning, took Gabriella's right hand, and slipped the ring down her middle finger, making it glisten under the sun. Squealing, Gabriella laughed, and launched herself at Troy, making him twirl her around. Setting her down, Troy leaned forward to kiss her, hugging her tightly.

They became friends at the age of four, and maintained a friendship for nineteen years. At the age of ten, they made a promise neither had understood at the time. At the age of twenty four, they had yet to fulfill that promise.

But as Troy and Gabriella linked hands and rejoined their group of friends, it wasn't the lingering, fourteen year old promise that brought the radiant smiles on their faces, but the lulling assurance of a new promise.

A/N: And so ends a Pinkie Promise!! See, Gabriella didn't leave! They're together! I didn't write how they ended up, but most of you can guess, I will leave their future in your hands. Thank you so much for following me in this incredible journey; it's been a pleasure to write for you all. If you haven't seen HSM3 yet, you HAVE to see it, its epic!!

Don't worry; this isn't the end of me yet. My writing days for HSM isn't over yet! I've actually got two plot bunnies going right now, one of them is a short story, and one is a longer, period drama. Let me know how you think!!

Forbidden
'Gabby you cannot be with him!' 'He is no different from us-' 'He is poor!' 'I love him!' 'You will have nothing!' In a tale of class, betrayal and forbidden love, Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez are about to do the impossible: to be together.

Before Happily Ever After
'There never had to be a 'happily ever after', but there's always something before it' Troy and Gabriella Bolton married at 18, and started a family at 20. Like every couple, they wanted their fairy tale ending, like every fairy tale, it won't be easy TXG

Before Happily Ever After is my short story, and it takes place around time zone of The Great Depression.

Forbidden is my period drama, taking place around the early 1900s.