THE SIMPLE NEED

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EPILOGUE

One February morning, Gabriella woke up alone. She didn't like waking up alone. She reached out behind her on the mattress – the mattress which had once spent a few months on the floor of her Greenwich Village apartment, with the slats and frame of the bed sitting in a box, awaiting to be set up. Her hand only found bedding, confirming the lack of his presence behind her. She yawned and picked herself up, grabbing his t-shirt which was on the floor where it had been tossed the night before, pulling it over her nude frame. She almost tripped over jeans on the floor, and padded her way out to the living area.

He was sitting at his music station that was set up in the corner, wearing a pair of grey boxer shorts, staring intently at the screen. It was only a portion of the size of the station across at his place in Brooklyn. He was like a child of divorce with his divided life, only it was a happy divorce that, despite the chaos, worked for him. They very rarely spent the night apart. Depending on their schedules, if he had a gig in the city or what time he needed to be at work, they split their time between sleeping in her Manhattan apartment, or at his place.

He sensed her presence, and looked back.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?"

"It's so early," she said softly. "Come back to bed."

He shook his head. "Can't sleep."

She smiled coyly, playing with the bottom hem of the t-shirt. "Who said anything about sleeping?"

The sight of her was impossible to resist, the t-shirt sitting at an intoxicatingly teasing length. With every flick of her wrist as she played with the hem, the shirt came dangerously close to exposing the lack of what she was wearing beneath. He rose to his feet, and took her outstretched hand and allowed her to lead him into bedroom. They fell onto the bed in a familiar ease, the kind of ease that came with being together for such a long time. After only a few kisses, Gabriella pulled back – she sensed something in his mood.

"You're not here with me, are you?" she observed.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly.

"Don't apologise. I hardly blame you."

He pressed a tender kiss to her forehead, before she snuggled in by his side.

"Are you scared?"

"Terrified," he confessed.

"I heard a quote once on a TV show... it went something like, if you aren't scared, then you aren't sticking your neck out far enough."

"Hrm. That explains the kink in my neck – it's stuck out too far."

She giggled, her fingers massaging at the back of his neck. "I think you're amazing."

"Amazing in bed?"

"Yes definitely. But amazing in general."

"I think you might be on something."

"You have this crazy wild dream and you're actually trying to make it a reality. I'm just... I think that's amazing. You're so close, Troy. Don't lose sight of how much you've achieved."

"Do you think we're going to get laughed off the stage tonight?"

"Absolutely not."

"This... this is the most important gig of my life. It's more than a gig - this is like, our shot. If there's ever going to be a show from which our success will be driven, it's this one. A year and a half, it's been, that we've been working on this seriously. Some people spend five or ten years, waiting for an opportunity this huge."

"Don't think about it that way. You're putting way too much pressure on this, and on yourself."

Troy sighed, and rubbed at his eyes. "I need to distract myself, before I go crazy."

Gabriella rested her palm on his chest, rubbing slightly. "I'm more than happy to assist as a distraction."

"And have yourself be used as a mere toy?"

"It's not using when it's being freely and happily given."

"Minx."

"You make me a minx. Two years since we met, and in so many ways, it's like nothing has changed since that first night."

xxx

Gabriella hesitantly stepped into the venue, grateful to escape from the chilly February weather in New York City. She felt somewhat like a fish out of water. She wasn't particularly into the bar scene. This was despite the fact that she'd spent a significant amount of the last couple of years around the bar scene, more time than she'd spent during any of her years prior to moving to New York City. Some of the familiar haunts, the bars that the band had regular appearances at, had a feeling of familiarity. But this bar was a bit different.

"Hey there darlin', need a hand with your coat?" a male voice asked her from behind.

Gabriella turned around and grinned, seeing Zeke awaiting just in front of Chad, Taylor and Sharpay.

"You guys!" she embraced each of them in a hug. In the months that had gone by, so much had changed. "I was worried you wouldn't all be able to make it."

"That's a dig at us," Taylor said, looking at Chad.

"Not a dig, you've got the best excuse in the world. How is Elijah?" Gabriella was referring to their newborn baby, almost three months old to the day.

"Perfect," Chad responded, a grin on his face. "Taylor was pretty distraught leaving him."

"I'm so glad you could be here," Gabriella said, hugging Taylor. "I've missed you guys. I hate you being all suburban in Westchester."

"I could never live upstate," Sharpay said, wrinkling her nose.

Gabriella smiled. "Zeke, you can't say you don't know exactly who you're marrying."

Zeke laughed. "This is true."

"You love me," Sharpay countered, and Zeke agreed with her - by pressing a light playful kiss to his fiancee's lips.

"So… tell us, how is Troy?" Taylor asked.

"Nervous, but good," Gabriella confirmed. "I was with them for sound check – they sounded incredible."

They were in the foyer area of Irving Plaza, some patrons enjoying some pre-show drinks. Through a series of luck and a whole lot of hard work, The Simple Need had been signed to support Gravity, the latest rock band to hit the Top 10 of the Billboard charts, for their New England tour. They were playing New York City, Newark, Boston, DC and Philadelphia. It was great exposure, an opportunity to promote their new EP. They'd had their official EP launch a month earlier at Mercury Lounge, and so far had received some really great feedback among the indie music scene, building upon the last year and continuing to bolster their fan base.

As Gabriella had first approached the venue an hour earlier prior to the doors opening, she'd seen the queue outside, and she had noticed a group of girls wearing The Simple Need t-shirts, causing her heart to flutter a little – things were getting quite real. The hardcore revellers were already inside, some having been queueing for hours to snag their spot up the front in the standing room only venue. Fortunately, there was a roped section set aside for supporters of the two bands, Gabriella feeling quite pleased with her special all access pass around her neck.

"Of course they did," Sharpay said, tone exuding with confidence.

Chad put his arm around Gabriella's shoulders. "It's all happening, isn't it?"

She took in a deep breath. "It really is."

An announcement came over the PA system with a ten minute warning until curtain. It was time to head inside. She didn't know if this was going to be their only big shot, but the emphasis Troy had put upon the importance of this first gig of the tour was certainly not without rationale. She had to push that out of her mind, and focus all of her positive energy in the direction of the stage.

xxx

Troy was pacing in a corner of the green room. The way that he and his band mates each prepared before a gig was vastly different. He was the pacer, working on transferring his nervous energy into kinetic energy to exude on stage. His mind wandered to that place he'd been thinking about a lot lately. He and Gabriella had celebrated just a week earlier the two year anniversary of their first encounter ever and it was an anniversary that led back to his thinking about the change in his life in two years. He didn't remember being backstage that night, but he remembered everything about that first encounter during the break, he remembered being on stage after the break. He remembered being the cool, suave guy in the background, dangerously sexy, in a nonchalant I'm too cool to care about whether my converse are even clean kind of way. He liked the shadow, he didn't need to be in the spotlight. It felt like both yesterday and a lifetime ago – that raven haired beauty he'd met while on a water break had turned his world upside down in so many ways.

The blinking lights flashed, signalling it was time for them to make their move. A quick group huddle, a blur in time, and next thing he knew, Rhys was running out on stage, the drum beat was starting, and then it was his turn. He ran out, front and centre, a moment in the low light, and then the spotlight shone, bright.

Troy didn't know if he was going to be famous.

He didn't know if his future would be on stage or off; if he was destined to be on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine or if he was destined to be unstacking boxes of Rolling Stone magazine onto racks in the store.

Troy didn't know what his future with Gabriella was.

He didn't know if they were destined to get married and have kids and move into the suburbs, or if she'd get sick of his strange hours and fall into the arms of someone with a steady income and less emotional baggage.

The unknown once terrified him.

But now, he was ready to put a hundred percent of himself into finding out.

They'd come together for something raw, something primal, something natural.

They'd stayed together for so much more.

It wasn't about a want.

It was all about a need.

A simple need.

~fin

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

What a crazy ride this piece of fiction has been. For the handful of people who stayed with me, thanks for seeing this through. Five years this has been in-progress. I really struggled with the second half, even if it was something so close to my heart.

My own personal life has turned upside down and back again and around the world during the time it's taken me to write this story. When it first published I was just finishing university; since then I've travelled abroad for extended periods of time twice, including spending copious hours wandering the streets of Greenwich Village and seeing TSN!Troy and TSN!Gabi around me. I've moved to Sydney, then to Alice Springs, and now I'm back home living with my folks, fighting a battle with a serious illness, but am fortunate to have supportive loved ones.

I feel incredibly humbled to see The Simple Need finished, and to be proud with how I finished it. It's a big accomplishment for me personally on so many levels, I don't even know how to begin to explain.

Thank you to Ellen DeGeneres for providing not just one but two glorious moments of inspiration. Thank you in older times to Nickelback and in recent times to Boyce Avenue for driving a lot of the musical inspiration that has helped me mold these characters in my mind. Thank you to my favourite city New York City, my grand love affair with this city was a huge driving part of capturing a lot of what I wanted to capture in this story. Thank you to my evolving 'online family' - both the old and the more recent. Your friendship is invaluable; and so, so, so important to me. Thank you to Zac Efron for continuing to inspire me.

Lastly, thank you to everyone who has ever left a review, sent me a message, wrote a comment on a Fan Forum Fanfiction thread, left pictures of Zac Efron with guitars to inspire me, and in general supported this fanfic. Particularly in those earlier years when this fandom was still prominent, I received such an overwhelmingly positive response to The Simple Need, beyond anything that I could have ever imagined; and though the volume has decreased, the noise hasn't, with some amazingly enthusiastic feedback. As the years have gone on, I know I've been slack with responding to your feedback, but know that I read every single review, every message, and they all mean the world to me. It's you guys, my cheerleaders, who inspire me and help instill my own crazy dreams into my world. For that, I thank you.

With love,

Danielle xo